HOUSE OF COMMONS

Royal Portrait

Harry Cohen: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the portrait of Her Majesty the Queen by Lucian Freud will be procured for the House for display in Portcullis House; and if he will make a statement.

Archy Kirkwood: I understand that this striking portrait was presented by the artist to Her Majesty the Queen as a gift. It has been accepted into the Royal Collection and will be on public display when the new Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace is opened on 22 May.
	The House owns a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen by Henry Mee which is hanging in 1 Parliament street. Arrangements are already in hand to display it in Portcullis House.

Portcullis House

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what has been the cost to date since the opening of Portcullis House of (a) maintenance, (b) remedial action to rectify faults and (c) action to introduce improvements requested by hon. Members; if he will produce a detailed list in respect of (b) and (c) above, with itemised costs; and if he will make a statement.

Stuart Bell: holding answer 9 January 2002
	I have been asked to reply.
	I regret that the information is not available in the form requested, but the following is readily available.
	The first Members moved into the building in September 2000 and it was fully occupied at the beginning of January before the official opening in February 2001.
	Maintenance costs in the current financial year, including VAT, total £650,000 to the end of December, which is in budget.
	It has been necessary to enhance the capacity of the fan in the extract system from the cooking ranges, to replace three broken panels in the courtyard roof and to alter the interface with the window blinds. There is continuing work on the borehole to prevent silt entering the cooling system; to the lifts that run between the kitchens; and to the water feature. In each instance questions of liability for the costs are the subject of discussions with the contractor and/or the designer.
	The majority of the changes requested by hon. Members and their staff have been for furniture additional to or different from the standard range available for the building. In the main these have been met from the furniture bought as part of the project but a further £3,800 has been spent. In some cases there have also been consequent minor changes to the power sockets. The only other change has been the conversion of cupboards to book/display cases in a limited number of rooms where none was provided and the removal of intrusive lightshelves from the fifth floor corner offices. The cost is some £20,000.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the President of the Council what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Robin Cook: None.

Members' Travel

John Mann: To ask the President of the Council what percentage of hon. Members' domestic official travel expenditure in the last 12 months was by (a) car, (b) train and (c) air.

Robin Cook: For the year ended 31 March 2001 the following percentages apply to Members' domestic official travel funded from the Members' Vote 1 :
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Car 56.6 
			 Rail 22.9 
			 Air 18.5 
			 Miscellaneous 2 
		
	
	(1) House of Commons Department of Finance and Administration.

Members' Tax Status

John Mann: To ask the President of the Council what discussions have taken place with the Tax Office over the last five years over the tax status of hon. Members.

Robin Cook: Over the last five years the Department of Finance and Administration have met the Inland Revenue on a number of occasions to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the tax status of hon. Members, and will continue to do so.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Sudan

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she raised the bombing of civilians in southern Sudan with Government representatives on her recent visit; and if she will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State raised the issue of the bombing of civilians during her meeting with the Government of Sudan's Minister of Defence. The Secretary of State made it clear that the UK expects parties to the conflict to live up to their obligations not to attack civilians, whether from the ground or from the air.

Sudan

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement about the prospects for funding health and education in Sudan following her recent visit.

Hilary Benn: We are willing to consider funding any well designed programmes which are likely to deliver tangible benefits to ordinary Sudanese people. We shall continue to give priority to those programmes that address the most urgent needs.
	We are convinced that real sustained improvements in these sectors will only be possible when there is a settlement to the civil war. We are committed to doing what we can to bring this about.

Sudan

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the prospects for progress in promoting peace and good governance in Sudan; if she will make a statement on international efforts to resolve the conflict in that country; and what proposals she has for work to stimulate peace and reconciliation and the strengthening of civil society in Sudan.

Hilary Benn: There is an opportunity to achieve a political settlement to the war in Sudan. During my recent visit all sides emphasised that they recognised the urgent need for peace, that it was their responsibility to engage in serious negotiation, and that there was a window of opportunity.
	The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is the mechanism by which the international community is assisting in the peace process. We, and others, are actively seeking new ways to invigorate this process.

Somalia

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she has responded to the World Food Programme appeal for assistance to Somalia; and if she will make a statement about the level of funding of that appeal.

Hilary Benn: We have not responded to the World Food Programme (WFP) element of the United Nations 2002 Consolidated Appeal for Somalia; we have, however, funded emergency health and nutrition programmes in the worst affected areas, and this complements the WFP's efforts.
	The WFP part of the UN Appeal is the continuation of a three year project "Food aid for relief and recovery in Somalia", which began in July 1999. To date the UN report that just under 60 per cent. of the project's estimated requirements have been met.

Somalia

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact of 11 September on poverty in Somalia following the disruption of overseas remittance income.

Hilary Benn: There has been some adverse impact on poverty as a consequence of the curtailment of the activities of Al Barakat—a Somali remittance company linked to terrorist groups. Other companies, offering similar services across Somalia, have not been affected. Indeed, there is evidence that they have expanded their client base, offsetting some of the effect of the Al Barakat closure.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by her Department since August 2001; and if she will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in "Good Policy Making".

Clare Short: DFID does not itself undertake 'regulatory impact assessments': these are the responsibility of our partner Governments and authorities. DFID does provide technical assistance to help Governments strengthen their capacity to undertake reviews of the regulatory environment and to regulate better. Many of the precepts underlying "Good Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment" are relevant to developing countries and we endorse them.

Afghanistan

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on Britain's planned financial contribution to the reconstruction of Afghanistan (a) in this financial year and (b) over the next five financial years.

Hilary Benn: We have set aside £20 million in this financial year to support the Interim Administration and the United Nations-led transitional recovery and rehabilitation process, while continuing to respond to humanitarian needs. This includes a contribution of £2 million already provided to the UN Afghan Interim Authority Fund to provide salaries of key public servants, equipment and supplies. As well as financial assistance, we are providing technical personnel and logistical, material and other practical support.
	At the international conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan held in Tokyo from 21–22 January 2002, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a significant contribution to be used for the long-term rehabilitation of Afghanistan. The UK has committed £200 million over the next five financial years for both reconstruction and humanitarian activities. The majority of this pledge will be channelled through UN agencies and non-governmental organisations.
	This pledge is in addition to the significant sums that the UK has contributed to the World bank, European Union and Asian Development bank, which will also direct further funds into Afghanistan in the coming years. The UK share of the European Union pledge alone will be 20 per cent.

Afghan Refugees

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on Government plans to aid Afghan refugees in Quetta in south-west Pakistan.

Hilary Benn: Pakistan has been shouldering the burden of some two million refugees from Afghanistan for many years; this is in addition to over 100,000 refugees who have moved into Pakistan from Afghanistan since September 2001. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that all refugees are properly cared for and to give neighbouring countries support to cope with the burden of refugees, for whom they have generously provided for so long.
	DFID has provided £3 million to UNHCR's operations, in response to the current crisis, to support its operations for refugees in the region, including in Quetta city and Balochistan province. This has included technical personnel, material and financial support. At the request of UNHCR, we have provided three relief flights to Iran and Pakistan transporting tents, shelter material and communications equipment. We have also provided a specialist site planner to UNHCR in Pakistan to assist with the setting up of new refugee camp sites. In addition we have provided £6 million to NGOs, much of which has been directed towards Afghans in neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, and £11 million to support communities in Pakistan most affected by the influx of refugees.
	As the situation stabilises inside Afghanistan, we hope that Afghan refuges will be able to return home voluntarily and, indeed, many have returned already.

Ethiopia

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department is taking to help street children living in Ethiopia.

Hilary Benn: We are currently supporting a project through the non-governmental organisation GOAL. The project aims to rehabilitate 700 street children back into the community and to raise awareness of the needs of street children through education and advocacy. The project started in April 2001 and is due to last for three years, with a contribution of £187,553 from DFID.

Public Relations Consultants

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent by (a) her Department and (b) bodies for which it is responsible on external public relations consultants in each of the last four years.

Hilary Benn: DFID provided £120,000 in 1998 for work by a public relations consultancy to raise awareness of malaria as part of the Roll Back Malaria initiative led by the World Health Organisation. The Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) spent £80,000 on external communications consultancy in 1998 and 1999, preparing for its transformation to a public limited company. Both DFID and CDC have separately used communications consultants for specific development activities in particular countries but the figures are not held centrally and it would require disproportionate cost to obtain them.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what equipment has been stolen from her Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Clare Short: Since 1 April 1997 the following equipment has been stolen from DFID in the UK and overseas:
	14 laptop computers with a total value of £15,732. The value of each piece of equipment ranges from £730 to £1,642;
	Computer chips: £1,100;
	One video camera: value unknown;
	One calculator: £108;
	One notebook computer: £1,880; and
	Two mobile telephones: £250.

SCOTLAND

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what equipment has been stolen from her Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. Since this date one laptop computer has been stolen, with an approximate value of £2,200 at the time of purchase.

Ministerial Staff (Overseas Visits)

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff paid out of public funds will be accompanying her on her forthcoming visit to Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Malaysia; and from which departmental budget they are paid.

George Foulkes: Two members of the Scotland Office staff are accompanying the Secretary of State on this visit.

Scotland Office Staff

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the staff in Dover house on loan to the Scotland Office from the Scottish Executive are of civil service grade.

George Foulkes: All of the staff on loan from the Scottish Executive are civil servants.

Scotland Office Staff

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil servants there are in her Department apart from (a) staff on loan to the Scotland Office from the Scottish Executive, (b) the member of staff on secondment from the House of Lords and (c) three temporary staff.

George Foulkes: Apart from the categories of staff mentioned, the Department has two special advisers.

Scotland Office Staff

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list the job descriptions of each of the staff members in Dover house (a) on loan to the Scotland Office from the Scottish Executive and (b) that are other staff, indicating which staff members are paid from the Scotland Office budget and which from the Scottish Executive budget.

George Foulkes: All of the Scotland Office staff in Dover house work in support of Ministers in carrying out the functions of the Department, and their costs are met from the Scotland Office budget.

TREASURY

National Asset Register

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list central Government acquisitions to the National Asset Register in each of the last four years, specifying the value of each acquisition.

Andrew Smith: The National Asset Register provides details of all significant acquisitions of central Government assets by Department for each of the financial years 1997–98 to 1999–2000.

Infrastructure Projects (Mid-Sussex)

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake an audit into the level of public spending on infrastructure projects in Mid-Sussex.

Andrew Smith: holding answer 21 January 2002
	No. Public spending on infrastructure projects is divided between local, regional and national bodies. It is not possible to identify without disproportionate cost what proportion of central Government infrastructure funding is spent in a particular local authority area or parliamentary constituency. However, the Treasury seeks to ensure value for money in all public spending and works with other Government Departments to ensure that a rigorous evaluation framework is in place to assess the costs and benefits of particular projects. While the Treasury delegates authority to Departments to spend regular budgets, it nevertheless scrutinises particularly large, novel or contentious proposals individually to ensure they offer good value.

Incomes

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have no income declared for tax purposes, other than unearned income; and in 2001–02 how many people are paying tax at (a) 40 per cent. and (b) the basic rate who derive (i) 100 per cent., (ii) 90 to 100 per cent., (iii) 75 to 100 per cent., and (iv) 50 to 100 per cent., of their income from unearned income.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is in the table.
	
		Thousand 
		
			  2001–02  
			 Investment income as a percentage of total income Number of higher rate(2) taxpayers Number of basic rate(3) taxpayers Number of 'savers' rate(4) taxpayers 
		
		
			 100 per cent. 10 30 60 
			 90 to less than 100 per cent. 20 10 20 
			 75 to less than 90 per cent. 50 30 50 
			 50 to less than 75 per cent. 80 210 80 
		
	
	(2) Taxpayers with a taxable income above the higher rate threshold.
	(3) Taxpayers with a marginal rate at the basic rate from an extra £1 of earnings.
	(4) Taxpayers with a marginal rate at the 20 per cent. lower rate for savings income or the 10 per cent. ordinary dividend rate from an extra £1 of earnings. Before 1999–2000 these people would have been classified as lower rate taxpayers.
	Note:
	There are around 130,000 taxpayers with no taxable income other than investment income.
	The estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes and are consistent with the November 2001 pre-Budget report.

Incomes

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total income before and after tax was at constant prices in each of the last four years for the top (a) one per cent., (b) five per cent., and (c) 10 per cent. and (d) each 10 per cent., thereafter down to the bottom 10 per cent., including both working and non-working households, in figures and as a percentage of income before and after tax accruing to each group.

Dawn Primarolo: It would be possible to provide an answer only at disproportionate cost.

Income Tax

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer have many (a) working and (b) non-working people do not pay income tax in the United Kingdom.

Dawn Primarolo: Inland Revenue estimate that out of the 27.8 million taxpayers in 2000–01 in the United Kingdom (UK), 23.4 million had employment or self- employment income. These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes and are consistent with the November 2001 pre-Budget report.
	The ONS population estimate for the UK in 2000 is 59.8 million.
	The ONS estimate for the number of people in employment in the UK based on the September–November 2000 Labour Force Survey is 28.0 million.

Income Tax

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the people of (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland paid income tax at (i) the basic rate and (ii) the higher rate in each of the last four years.

Dawn Primarolo: The proportions requested are in the table.
	
		
			  Basic rate taxpayers(5) as a percentage of the country population Higher rate taxpayers as a percentage of the country population 
		
		
			 2000–01(6)   
			 Wales 33 3 
			 Scotland 36 3 
			 Northern Ireland 31 2 
			 England 36 5 
			 1999–2000   
			 Wales 33 2 
			 Scotland 36 3 
			 Northern Ireland 31 2 
			 England 36 4 
			
			 1998–99   
			 Wales 24 2 
			 Scotland 29 3 
			 Northern Ireland 24 2 
			 England 28 4 
			
			 1997–98   
			 Wales 25 2 
			 Scotland 30 3 
			 Northern Ireland 21 2 
			 England 28 4 
		
	
	(5) Taxpayers with a marginal rate at 20 per cent. lower rate for savings or 10 per cent. ordinary dividend rate from £1 of extra earnings are excluded from this column as they are in the "savers" category.
	(6) Provisional
	Estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes and the 2000–01 is consistent with the November 2001 pre-Budget report.

Income Tax Bands

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax units in the latest year available are married couples falling within each £1,000 income band up to an income of £30,000 and thereafter in £10,000 income bands up to £100,000; and how many wives and husbands fall within each band, giving the average incomes of wives and husbands within each band separately and the same figures in aggregate for those tax units on incomes in excess of £10,000.

Dawn Primarolo: It would be possible to provide an answer only at disproportionate cost.

Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average amount of money recovered annually by (a) a Department for Work and Pensions senior fraud inspector and (b) a senior investigation officer in the Inland Revenue.

Dawn Primarolo: There is no position of 'senior fraud inspector' in the Department for Work and Pensions. Nor is it possible to separate the total amount of overpaid benefit recovered into overpayments due to fraud and those due to other reasons. It is therefore not possible to say what is the average amount of money recovered annually by a Department for Work and Pensions senior fraud inspector.
	The term 'senior investigation officer' does not refer to any specific group of Inland Revenue staff. However, the Inland Revenue annual report, available in the House of Commons Library, details the additional liability identified as a result of work to tackle non-compliance undertaken by specialist offices such as the Large Business Office and the Special Compliance Office.

Working Mothers

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the effect on Treasury revenues in 2001–02 of introducing an allowance against income rate of (a) £2000 and (b) £4000 for (i) all working mothers and (ii) all working mothers with at least one child under five years, giving both full and first year costs for each.

Dawn Primarolo: The cost to the Exchequer of introducing the personal allowances for these groups is shown in the table:
	
		Cost of increased personal allowances for working mothers
		
			 Increase in personal allowance Working mother type Full year costs (£ million) First year costs (£ million) 
		
		
			 (a) £2,000 pa (i) All 1,200 1,050 
			 (a) £2,000 pa (ii) With child under five 400 350 
			 (b) £4,000 pa (i) All 2,200 1,900 
			 (b) £4,000 pa (ii) With child under five 700 600 
		
	
	Note:
	The estimates are calculated in 2001–02 prices, using data from the 1999–2000 Family Resources Survey held in the standard IGoTM tax benefit model. The first year costs have been estimated on a national accounts basis.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those public investment projects within his Department's responsibility which have attracted private capital in each of the last four years.

Andrew Smith: The information is given in the table:
	
		
			 Department and project 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 HMCE  
			 PFI Infrastructure Project — — — Yes Yes 
			   
			 HMT  
			 GOGGS — — — Yes — 
			   
			 IR  
			 Manchester Yes Yes — — — 
			 Bootle — Yes Yes Yes — 
			 Glasgow Yes Yes — — — 
			 Edinburgh Yes Yes — — — 
			 Stockport — Yes Yes — — 
			 NIRS2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 NED Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 STEPS — — — — Yes

Inland Revenue Rewards

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what have been, in each of the three years to 31 March 2001, Inland Revenue's estimates for sums to be expended in rewarding individuals under section 32 of the Inland Revenue Regulation Act 1890; what the sum voted for this category of expenditure was; what Inland Revenue's actual expenditure was; and how much of this expenditure related to rewards to ordinary members of the public.

Dawn Primarolo: The total amounts paid in rewarding individuals under section 32 of Inland Revenue Regulation Act 1890 for each of the three years ended 31 March 1999, 2000 and 2001 respectively were £15,000, £17,965 and £5,075. All of these amounts were paid to members of the public.
	Because of the relatively small sums involved, the Inland Revenue does not vote a sum nor earmark particular funds for this category of expenditure.

Excess Votes

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many excess votes there were in each of the last four years, indicating the amount and the department responsible in each case.

Andrew Smith: Details of excess votes are presented to Parliament in February of the financial year following the excess in a House of Commons paper entitled "Statement of Excesses" (SoE). For 2000–01 the SoE will be presented towards the end of February. For the previous three financial years the relevant HC papers are numbered as follows—1997–98 HC239, 1998–99 HC276 and 1999–2000 HC323.

Public Works Loans

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money is on loan to local authorities by the Public Works Loan Board; which local authorities are borrowing; and what the sum involved is in each case.

Ruth Kelly: As at 31 March 2001, outstanding PWLB debt amounted to £47,169,517,807 divided between 350 of the 443 principal authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. This information was published in the PWLB's annual report for 2000–01. The PWLB operates a banking relationship with its local authority clients and does not disclose individual levels of borrowing.

Fuel Levy

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the fuel levy of 20 pence per litre for biodiesel will come into effect.

Paul Boateng: We are planning to introduce a new reduced rate of excise duty for biodiesel used as a road fuel, to be set at 20 pence per litre below the rate for ultra-low sulphur diesel, in Budget 2002.

Toddler Tax Credit

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) research has been conducted into and (b) conclusions drawn about the implementation of the Childcare Commission's recommendation to fund a toddler tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government continue to keep under review the levels of support provided to families with children. Budget 2001 announced a number of measures to support families with young children, including improved maternity provision and a higher rate of children's tax credit of up to £20 a week in the first year of a child's life. Budget 2001 also announced increases of around one third in the child care cost limits in the child care tax credit component of the working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit.
	As the next stage of tax and benefit reform a new child tax credit, which will draw together all income related strands of support for families with children, will be introduced in 2003. The rates and thresholds for the new child tax credit will be set in Budget 2002.

Euro

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of British high street transactions have taken place in euros since 1 January.

Ruth Kelly: We understand from the British Retail Consortium that thus far such transactions have been less than 1 per cent. in volume and value terms.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Ruth Kelly: The following items were recorded as stolen:
	
		
			 Year Item(s) Value(7) (£) 
		
		
			 1997 (May) 2 Desktop PCs 4,300 
			  1 Laptop PC 2,500 
			  1 Desktop PC 1,900 
			  1 Laptop PC 3,000 
			
			 1998 1 Laptop PC 2,500 
			
			 1999 1 Desktop PC 2,000 
			  Computer memory 25 
			  1 Laptop PC 2,000 
			  1 Laptop PC 3,000 
			
			 2000 1 LCD Projector 2,000 
			  2 Disk Drives 300 
			  1 Laptop PC 2,000 
			
			 2001 1 Laptop PC 2,000 
			  1 Personal Data Assistant (PDA) 250 
			  1 Laptop PC 2,000 
			
			 2002 None recorded to date  
		
	
	(7) Approximate

Married Couple's Tax Allowance

David Chaytor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men aged (i) under 65 and (ii) 65 and over and (b) women aged (1) under 60 and (2) 60 and over have been in receipt of married couple's tax allowance since 31 March 1999.

Dawn Primarolo: The numbers of taxpayers who received the married couple's allowance in 1999–2000 are given in the table.
	
		Million 
		
			  Number in receipt of the married couple's allowance 
		
		
			 Men under 65 7.8 
			 Men 65 and over 1.8 
			 Women under 60 0.2 
			 Women 60 and over 0.1 
		
	
	The estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes.

Civil Registration

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there has been progress with the proposal to reform civil registration in England and Wales.

Ruth Kelly: A White Paper "Civil Registration: Vital Change", setting out the Government's proposals for modernising civil registration within England and Wales, is being published today. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many answers to parliamentary questions have not been answered by his Department under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994.

Ruth Kelly: Records are not kept of the number of occasions on which Treasury Ministers have not been able to answer parliamentary questions wholly or in part on grounds of commercial confidentiality. This information could be extracted from the thousands of answers given in a typical year only at disproportionate cost.

Correspondence

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell dated 6 August 2001 and 1 November 2001, addressed to the Economic Secretary, regarding data protection.

Ruth Kelly: I hope to be in a position to write to the hon. Member very shortly.

Saving and Assets for All

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will make a statement in respect of the outcome of the consultation on Saving and Assets For All.

Ruth Kelly: Results of the consultation on proposals for the Child Trust Fund and Saving Gateway, launched in April 2001, were published with the pre-Budget report in November 2001, in "Delivering Saving and Assets". This document also contained more detailed proposals for further consultation.
	This second round of consultation, which will close on 28 February 2002, will inform the development of the proposals by the Government over the coming months, including as part of Spending Review 2002.

Child Poverty

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the action his Department has taken to reduce child poverty.

Dawn Primarolo: This Government are committed to abolishing child poverty within a generation and halving it by 2010. As part of this commitment, a strategy document entitled "Tackling child poverty: giving every child the best possible start in life" was published in December 2001. This document will inform the Budget and Spending Review 2002.
	As a result of personal tax and benefit changes announced in the last Parliament, there are now 1.2 million fewer children in poverty than there would otherwise have been. In real terms:
	Families with children are, on average, £1,000 a year better off.
	Families with children in the poorest fifth of the population are on average £1,700 a year better off.
	A family with two young children on half average earnings (£12,700) are £3,000 a year better off.
	Specific measures announced over the last Parliament include:
	Increases in child benefit and the introduction of the children's tax credit. This means around 5 million families get up to £25.50 for the first child compared to £12.35 in 1997.
	The introduction of the working families tax credit which benefits nearly 1.3 million families who are receiving, on average, £35 a week more than its predecessor, family credit.
	A higher rate of children's tax credit from April 2002 which will be worth an extra £10 a week in the year of a child's birth—a total of up to £1,040 in that year.
	Increases in the children's allowances in income support and other income related benefits which mean that rates for children under 11 rose by 80 per cent. in real terms.
	As part of the next stage of tax and benefit reform, a new tax credit for families with children—the child tax credit—will be introduced from 2003 building on the foundation of universal child benefit. It will bring together the strands of support for children in children's tax credit, working families tax credit, disabled person's tax credit and income support/jobseeker's allowance, and will be a seamless and transparent system of support for children paid to the main carer whether in or out of work. Decisions on rates and thresholds will be set out in Budget 2002.

WALES

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Paul Murphy: The following items have been reported as lost or stolen:
	
		
			 Description Value (£) Year 
		
		
			 Camera 200.00 1997–98 
			 Laptop 107.00 1997–98 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures relate to Welsh Office, Cadw, and Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales/Estyn up to 30 June 1999, and to Wales Office thereafter.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Port Dues

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether all ports in the UK charge port dues for ships coming into the port for repairs; which European ports around the North sea waive port dues for ships without cargo commitments coming in to port for repairs; and what assessment he has made of whether port dues place the port of Tyne at a competitive disadvantage to European ports which waive port dues for ships coming in for repair.

John Spellar: All ships have the right to enter ports in the UK subject only to the payment of ship, passenger and goods dues. Statutory harbour authorities, including the port of Tyne, have the right to set such dues at whatever level they consider appropriate and may waive any of them at their own discretion. Harbour undertakings are paid for by their users—if dues are waived in any case, the cost is borne by others. Users have a right of objection to the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if they consider the dues to be unreasonable.

Airline Disinfection

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how a determination is made as to which flights arriving in the United Kingdom require pesticide disinfection.

John Spellar: holding answer 10 January 2002
	The port health authorities decide the routes into the United Kingdom on which disinfection of aircraft is required. They make their decisions in the light of the advice from the World Health Organisation on the risks to public health arising in different countries, either long-term or as the result of an outbreak of disease.

Road Deaths

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many road fatalities there were in each of the last five available years on (a) motorways, (b) dual carriageways and (c) single carriageways.

John Spellar: The figures requested are as shown:
	
		Road fatalities in Great Britain
		
			  1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Motorways 165 191 174 202 189 
			 Other roads:  
			 Dual carriageways 527 515 469 491 481 
			 Single carriageways 2,824 2,800 2,680 2,629 2,641 
			 Other(8) 74 87 88 94 90 
			 Total 3,598 3,599 3,421 3,423 3,409 
		
	
	(8) Includes roundabouts and one way streets

London Underground (Overtime)

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the total overtime payments in each of (a) the last seven years and (b) the last 12 months for each underground line.

John Spellar: This is an operational matter for London Underground Ltd., who have provided the following information. The information is not available in the precise form requested.
	London Underground Ltd. was reorganised in September 1999, in preparation for the introduction of modernisation plans. Under 'shadow running' arrangements, information is collected from each infrastructure company and the operations company, rather than on the 'line by line' basis that reflected London Underground's previous structure. The table therefore records operational staff and engineering staff overtime costs by line until 18 September 1999, and subsequently overtime costs for staff in each of London Underground's reorganised components. Overall totals cover the same groups of staff and so are comparable.
	
		Overtime costs per financial year -- £000
		
			  2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 1997–98 1996–97 1995–96 1994–95 
		
		
			  Before reorganisation 
			 Bakerloo — 562 1,075 671 622 642 505 
			 Central — 1,255 2,552 1,908 2,081 1,759 1,536 
			 District — 945 1,659 1,514 1,787 1,722 1,549 
			 Jubilee and East London — 764 500 342 370 268 242 
			 Metropolitan and Circle — 1,222 2,078 1,632 1,370 1,408 1,330 
			 Northern — 732 1,379 910 968 1,363 1,006 
			 Piccadilly — 1,017 1,809 1,354 1,276 1,114 975 
			 Victoria — 327 564 530 596 479 391 
			 Network Services and Engineering — 5,257 10,973 10,023 9,880 10,538 9,239 
			 After reorganisation 
			 Stations 7,947 3,813 — — — — — 
			 Trains 3,026 1,154 — — — — — 
			 Infraco BCV 6,100 3,111 — — — — — 
			 Infraco JNP 4,056 2,361 — — — — — 
			 Infraco SSL 4,443 2,303 — — — — — 
			  
			 Total 25,572 24,821 22,589 18,884 18,950 19,293 16,773 
		
	
	Note:
	For the year 1999–2000, figures in the upper part of the table are for the year to 18 September; figures in the lower part for the remainder of the year. Detailed monthly information is a matter for London Underground.

British Merchant Marine

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent representations he has received from the RMT on the competitiveness of the British merchant marine and related employment issues; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: holding answer 15 January 2002
	The RMTs Acting General Secretary, Mr. Vernon Hince, wrote to my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson), recently to urge the extension of work permit requirements to one-port voyages. This is under consideration by the Home Office.
	Mr. Hince also wrote to my hon. Friend last November about proposed dismissals of UK seafaring ratings by the P&O Group, a matter which was additionally raised at the 4 December meeting of our Shipping Task Force.
	We are deeply disappointed by the actions of P&O. These job losses are particularly regrettable at a time when we are seeing a revival in UK merchant shipping after a long decline, a revival to which the shipping unions have made an immense contribution.

Local Government Finance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of total local authority expenditure was met in each of the last four years by (a) central Government funds, (b) business rate payers and (c) council tax payers.

Alan Whitehead: English local authorities have reported the following funding of revenue expenditure.
	
		
			  Revenue Expenditure(9)  Government Grant(10)  Non-Domestic Rates(11)  Council tax(12)  
			  £ billion £ billion Percentage  £ billion Percentage £ billion Percentage 
		
		
			 1998–99 50.189 25.291 50 12.531 25 12.332 24 
			 1999–2000 53.651 26.421 49 13.619 25 13.278 25 
			 2000–01 57.308 27.764 48 15.406 27 14.200 25 
			 2001–02(13) 61.270 30.341 50 15.144 25 15.245 25 
		
	
	(9) 'Revenue expenditure to compare with TSS' i.e. expenditure financed from Revenue Support Grant, specific and special grants within AEF, non-domestic rates, council taxes and balances. Also includes spending met by SSA Reduction Grant, Police Grant, Central Support Protection Grant (1999–2000 onwards) and General Greater London Authority Grant (2000–01 onwards). This column is not the total of the others. The difference is due to funding by balances and other adjustments.
	(10) Includes Revenue Support Grant, specific and special grants within AEF, SSA Reduction Grant, Police Grant, Central Support Protection Grant (1999–2000 onwards) and General GLA Grant (2000–01 onwards).
	(11) Distribute amount from non-domestic rate pool. This is not exactly equal to the payments from business in any year, but adjustments are made to the distributable amount in future years to ensure that, over time, all rates received are redistributed to receiving authorities. Includes City Offset.
	(12) Gross of council tax benefit and council tax transitional reduction scheme.
	(13) Budgets.

Local Government Finance

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will investigate the settlement for local government with particular reference to the different sums that were allocated to smaller district authorities.

Alan Whitehead: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has already looked into the local government settlement for district councils. In his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush (Mr. Soley) on 18 December 2001, Official Report, columns 136–37, he explained that he would introduce an alternative baseline for 2001–02 which, in effect, adjusts only for the transfers of service for which shire districts are responsible and that, in order to guarantee a minimum 2.3 per cent. increase for shire districts, he would ensure that all shire districts received a minimum grant increase of whichever increase is greater—2.3 per cent. on the original baseline, or 2.3 per cent. on this alternative baseline.
	Further details will be provided as part of the Government's final settlement proposals, which the House will have a chance to debate on 30 January.

Strategic Rail Authority

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reason the SRA plan makes no reference to automatic train protection in its list of priorities.

John Spellar: Automatic train protection (ATP) is not mentioned in the SRA's Plan because it is being superseded by a combination of Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) and European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS). TPWS is designed to reduce the risks from Signals Passed at Danger by slower-running trains, and is being installed at about 11,000 signals with legislation requiring completion by the end of 2003. The Uff-Cullen inquiry recommended that such a system as ERTMS should be installed throughout the high-speed network by 2010. The omission of ATP from the plan does not involve any compromise of safety standards.

Rail Network

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the time scale required to establish special purpose vehicles for infrastructure investment in the railways.

John Spellar: Section 4 of the SRA Strategic Plan discusses the issues involved in developing and implementing special purpose vehicles. As the plan notes, this will be progressed simultaneously with the process of bringing Railtrack out of administration.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress the Railtrack administrator has made on the development of an asset register.

John Spellar: This is a matter for the administrator

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what bonus scheme the Railtrack administrator has implemented to replace employee share schemes.

John Spellar: This a contractual matter between Railtrack plc, its employees and the administrator.

Railtrack

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), of 14 January 2002, Official Report, column 11W, on Railtrack, what information his officials have sent to the Railtrack administration about the future funding of the railway industry.

Stephen Byers: holding answer 21 January 2002
	The administrators have been referred to the Government's 10-year plan for transport and to the regulatory settlement for control period 2, as supplemented by the agreement between Railtrack and the Department in April 2001.

Public Subsidies (Railways)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the average public subsidy per rail passenger journey has been in each of the past 10 years.

John Spellar: The information is not held in the form requested.

Lorry Movements

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many lorry movements occur in the United Kingdom each year.

John Spellar: Lorries made an estimated 292 million movements in the United Kingdom during 2000, the latest year for which figures are available. The figures relate to the number of journey legs, between stops to pick up or unload goods, including unladen legs, but with each journey of a collection and delivery type round counted as a single movement.

Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the (a) time taken on the renewal of the Chiltern and South West Trains franchise process and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority estimate for the establishment of a final agreement for the Wales and Border franchise.

John Spellar: The Strategic Rail Authority is continuing to negotiate final agreements for the Chiltern and South West Trains franchises. A further announcement will be made shortly. The authority hopes to announce a preferred bidder for the Wales and Borders franchise by autumn 2002, and to have a new franchise in place by spring 2003.

Passenger Capacity Limits

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the train operating companies which are required to carry out passenger counts on commuters to meet the passengers in excess of capacity limits set by the SRA.

John Spellar: The Passengers In Excess of Capacity (PIXC) mechanism is used in relation to overcrowding on all commuter services into London and on some commuter routes into Edinburgh. The train operating companies it applies to are c2c, Chiltern, Connex South Eastern, First Great Eastern, Silverlink, South Central, South West trains, Thames Trains, Thameslink, West Anglia Great Northern and Scotrail.

Central Line

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to extend the Central line to Uxbridge.

John Spellar: None. It is already served by the Piccadilly and Metropolitan Lines.

Council Tax

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many properties there were in each council tax band in each year since 1997, broken down by London borough.

Alan Whitehead: Tables, showing how many properties there were on the valuation list for each London borough, in each year since October 1997, have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Speed Limits

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many 20 mph zones are in place in England; and how many he estimates will be in place by the end of the 2002–03 financial year.

John Spellar: This information is not held centrally.

London Underground

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the age of the oldest and newest rolling stock on each London Underground line; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: For information about Jubilee and Northern Line rolling stock, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson) to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) on 19 December 2001, Official Report, columns 497–98W.
	This is an operational matter for London Underground who have provided the information in the table, showing, for the remaining lines, the year in which the oldest and newest rolling stock came into service.
	
		London Underground—years in which oldest and newest rolling stock entered service, by line
		
			 Line Oldest stock year entered service Newest stock year entered service 
		
		
			 Barkerloo 1973 1975 
			 Central and Waterloo and City 1993 1994 
			 Circle and Hammersmith and City 1969 1977 
			 District 1978 1982 
			 Metropolitan and East London Line 1961 1965 
			 Piccadilly 1975 1978 
			 Victoria 1967 1970

Commuter Travel

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  how many extra commuters a day he estimates will travel to London from each county in the south-east of England as a result of the meeting of his house building targets;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of extra (a) rail passenger journeys per day into each London terminus and (b) road journeys on each motorway into London as a result of meeting his house building targets.

Sally Keeble: Statistics on travel patterns are available from a variety of both local and national sources, including the National Labour Force Survey and the National Travel Survey. However, the relationship between the house building targets set out in Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (RPG9) and the volume of commuter travel into London is a complex one. It would therefore not be sensible to estimate how many extra commuters will travel to London from counties in the south-east as a result of those targets being met.

Green Belt

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the amount of green belt in a local authority area will continue to affect the level of settlement it receives after the 2003 review.

Alan Whitehead: Under the current formula the amount of green belt has no direct effect on the level of grant an authority receives through the Local Government Finance Settlement. In partnership with the Local Government Association and other local authority organisations we are reviewing the local government finance grant distribution formula. Until this review is concluded it is not possible to say which factors will have an impact on the level of future settlements.

Disability Vehicle Stickers

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action the Government are taking to reduce fraudulent use of the blue badge scheme.

Sally Keeble: There is a wide variety of powers available to local authorities, who are responsible for administering the blue badge scheme, for tackling fraudulent use. At present:
	it is an offence under Section 117 of The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the badge itself to be misused by a non-disabled person, the maximum fine on conviction being £1,000.
	local authorities have powers to withdraw a badge if the holder constantly misuses it or allows it to be misused by others.
	it is also an offence under Section 47 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to park a vehicle which is not displaying a badge in a designated disabled person's parking bay.
	The issues of abuse and misuse of badges are a major part of a review of the scheme that we are currently undertaking.
	In the meantime, it is open to anybody to bring instances of fraudulent use to the attention of the police, traffic wardens or the appropriate local authority and we will continue to work with these bodies and stakeholder groups to minimise the potential for abuse and misuse.

Disability Vehicle Stickers

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 595W, on disability vehicle stickers, which organisations have been consulted by the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee as part of its review of the blue badge scheme.

Sally Keeble: The blue badge review discussion paper has been sent to major stakeholders, including disability organisations, local authorities and enforcement bodies in England and the devolved Administrations, whose authorities are collaborating with my Department. A list of those who received the paper has been placed in the House. The paper is also available on request from the Department's Mobility and Inclusion Unit and on our website.
	The Secretary of State for Transport has asked the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) to consider responses to the consultation and to report back to him with their recommendations.

Disability Vehicle Stickers

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 595W, on disability vehicle stickers, when he expects the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee to complete its review of the blue badge scheme.

Sally Keeble: The Secretary of State has asked the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) to consider the responses to a discussion paper issued by my Department and to report back with their recommendations by the end of April 2002.

Disability Vehicle Stickers

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 595W, on disability vehicle stickers, whether the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee is considering a reduction in the minimum period of issue of blue badges as part of its review of the blue badge scheme.

Sally Keeble: The main purpose of the review is to seek views on the future shape of the scheme by considering a range of issues which were identified in discussions with those most closely affected by it, including the minimum period of issue for blue badges. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) have been asked to consider responses to the consultation and to report back to the Secretary of State with their recommendations having considered all the responses received.

Disability Vehicle Stickers

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 595W, on disability vehicle stickers, what representations the Government have received from (a) hon. and right hon. Members, (b) disability charities, (c) other charities and (d) others calling for an extension of the blue badge scheme to cover those individuals with temporary disabilities.

Sally Keeble: The discussion paper was issued on 14 December 2001 and the consultation period is due to end on 15 March 2002. The few responses which have been received so early in the consultation are currently being analysed. We will, however, keep the House informed as the review progresses.

Disability Vehicle Stickers

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 595W, on disability vehicle stickers, what criteria are set down for local authorities to determine the eligibility of people applying for a disability vehicle sticker through the blue badge scheme.

Sally Keeble: The criteria which local authorities use for assessing eligibility for a disabled person's badge are set down in The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 [SI 2000/682].
	These contain a prescribed description of disabled person to whom a local authority may issue a disabled persons' badge and are a person who is more than 2-years-old who falls within one or more of the following categories:
	receives the higher rate of the mobility component of the disability living allowance in accordance with section 73 of the Social Security and Benefits Act 1982;
	uses a motor vehicle supplied by the Department of Social Security or the Scottish Executive or is in receipt of a grant pursuant to section 5(2)(a) of the National Health Services Act 1977 or section 46 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;
	is registered blind under section 29(4)(g) of the National Assistance Act 1948 or, in Scotland, is a blind person within the meaning of section 64(1) of that Act;
	receives a mobility supplement under article 26A of the Naval, Military and Air Forces etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 1983 including such a supplement by virtue of any scheme or order under article 25A of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983;
	drives a motor vehicle regularly, has a severe disability in both upper limbs and is unable to turn by hand the steering wheel of a motor vehicle even if that wheel is fitted with a turning knob; or
	has a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking.

Patient Transport Services

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action the Government are taking to assist people suffering from balance difficulties, arising from cancer illness, to (a) travel to and from and (b) park at hospital clinics.

Sally Keeble: This is a matter for the Scottish Executive, but I understand from them that, essentially, the Scottish Ambulance Service Non-Emergency Service transports people to and from hospitals, clinics and day centres, and bases its provision on the medical need of the patient. In some of the more remote areas of Scotland, patient transport services are provided by community run schemes. The ambulance service's aim is to provide a seamless journey for patients with mobility problems and those who experience significant discomfort because of the nature of their medical condition, or the type of treatment they receive at hospital. To ensure that it continues to understand and meet the needs of its patients, it is currently reviewing and developing the way in which it provides and delivers non-emergency services to make them even more flexible and patient friendly.

Disabled Facilities Grant

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what guidelines and recommendations he has made to local authorities with regard to determining the value and suitability of discretionary grant awards under the disabled facilities grant; and if he will place copies in the Library;
	(2)  how long on average it took each local authority to make disabled facilities grant payments following approved applications;
	(3)  under what circumstances local authorities may delay the payment of an approved disabled facilities grant;
	(4)  how long it has taken for each local authority to approve an application for the disabled facilities grant, following the receipt of a valid completed application form; and how many applications for disabled facilities grant, broken down by local authority, were not responded to within the recommended six month period following the receipt of a valid completed application form;
	(5)  how much money was awarded by each local authority for the disabled facilities grant; what was the average award made by each local authority for the disabled facilities grant; and what funding was provided to each local authority by the Government towards their spending in respect of the disabled facilities grant in each of the last five years.

Stephen Byers: Disabled facilities grants (DFG) are administered by local authorities who are under a statutory duty to approve or refuse an application within six months of the date of application. My Department does not collect data on the length of time taken by local authorities to consider applications.
	Figures showing each English local authority's expenditure on DFGs, the average value of grant and the Government's DFG allocation over the last five years have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	Section 23(1) of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 sets out the purposes for which mandatory DFG must be approved. Discretionary DFG is available to make a dwelling or building suitable for a disabled occupant in any other respect. Paragraphs 31 to 36 of Annex I to DoE Circular 17/96, (copies of which have already been placed in the Library) gives examples. Paragraph 10 of that Annex also states that discretionary DFG may be paid where the costs of the adaptations exceed the maximum limit for mandatory DFG. There is no maximum limit on the amount which may be paid in the form of a discretionary DFG.
	Section 36 of the Act provides that local authorities may delay the payment of DFGs up to 12 months after the date of application. Paragraphs 58 to 61 of Annex 1 to circular 17/96 advises that such a delay should only be made in exceptional circumstances when a particularly heavy caseload of applications is causing severe resource problems for the authority. It should not be made where adaptations are urgently required and where a delay would cause hardship or suffering to the applicant.

Local Government Inspection

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much is spent annually on external inspection of local government; and if he will make a statement on the methods used to assess the effectiveness of such inspections.

Alan Whitehead: The following costs identified represent those of the major [Interruption.] Inspectorates working in the local government field together with the costs of district audit. Apart from district audit and inspection by the Audit Commission Inspection Service, which include a fee element, these costs are centrally funded by sponsoring Departments.
	Other inspection bodies, such as the Health and Safety Executive, will have some involvement with local government, but figures for this are not readily identifiable or available.
	The figures do not include any element of the indirect costs of inspection to authorities; e.g. staff time, as no agreed or reliable figures are available.
	Audit Commission Inspection Service
	Audit Commission, district audit and best value inspection costs for the audit year 2001–02 are likely to be in the region of £194 million. Best value inspection costs represent a £44 million component of this figure which includes £23.5 million in direct grant paid by DTLR and the National Assembly for Wales. The remainder of the costs are charged in fees supported through the Revenue Support Grant in England and Wales.
	Social Services Inspectorate (SSI)
	In 2001–02 SSI inspections cost £5.2 million. £4.5 million of this related to inspection of social services functions that are the responsibility of local councils.
	Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI)
	The total running costs for the BFI in the last three years is circa £6 million per year.
	HM Fire Service Inspectorate
	Spend in 2001–02 is £1,660,000.
	Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)
	The total direct cost (i.e. excluding overheads) of LEA inspections in 2000–01 amounted to about £2.3 million.
	Assessment of the effectiveness of the various statutory and non-statutory components of the inspection regimes applied by each inspectorate, is the responsibility of the relevant sponsoring department. However, the Local Government White Paper seeks to deliver inspection regimes which more fully reflect authority performance, with a substantial reduction in inspection activity for the high performing. Our intention is that inspection will be co-ordinated across all local authority functions and will reflect risk analysis of each local authority based on a comprehensive performance assessment.

Refrigerator Disposal Costs

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what arrangements he has made with regard to the allocation of the adjustment to the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services block, announced in the provisional local government finance settlement, to cover the cost of implementing refrigerator disposal regulations.

Stephen Byers: £6 million has been added to the upper tier sub-block of the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services Standard Spending Assessment for 2002–03 for the costs of implementing refrigerator disposal regulations for the period 1 January 2002 to 31 March 2003. This will be distributed to local authorities using the standard formula for this sub-block.

NIMSA

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the achievement of performance targets set for the use of NIMSA funding of the Ordnance Survey.

Sally Keeble: Performance criteria and deliverables are defined for NIMSA activities. Progress is reviewed quarterly by the NIMSA Review Group. Through NIMSA funding, Ordnance Survey delivers a range of valuable services in the public interest. These outputs are published in an annual report.

NIMSA

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the minutes of the NIMSA Review Group's meetings in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001.

Sally Keeble: No. Publication of Ordnance Survey outputs funded under NIMSA is by an annual report.

NIMSA

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the use of NIMSA funding by the Ordnance Survey in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001.

Sally Keeble: The National Interest Mapping Services Agreement (NIMSA) was implemented on 1 April 1999. It is an agreement between DTLR, on behalf of Government, and Ordnance Survey for the provision of Ordnance Survey services that are required in the national interest but are not commercially viable.
	Since April 1999, NIMSA funds have been used by Ordnance Survey for activities that are defined and agreed by the NIMSA review group comprising officials from DTLR and Ordnance Survey. These activities are agreed each year in advance, but are subject to change by the review group.
	Details about NIMSA activities are published annually in an annual report. The report for the year 2000–01 will be published in February 2002.

Lord Birt

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he was consulted on the appointment of Lord Birt in respect of his role on transport.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 298W.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many answers to parliamentary questions have been refused by his Department under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994.

Alan Whitehead: The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions was formed on 8 June 2001. In the period 8 June 2001 to 18 January 2002, my Department has answered over 3,400 written questions, of which information was withheld in respect of 23 questions because the information requested was wholly or partially commercially confidential.

Parliamentary Questions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he will respond to the questions of the hon. Member for the Vale of York, refs. 23897–23900.

John Spellar: I answered the hon. Member's questions on 17 January 2002, Official Report, columns 422–23W.

Fire Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information is available to him to determine the percentage of fire officers' time spent on average on (a) responding to emergencies, (b) other key duties, (c) administration and (d) sick leave, in the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: This information is not held centrally. However, information about shifts lost due to sickness by firefighters in 2000–01 was published at tables 30–33 of Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate Best Value Performance Indicators, a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library. This information is also available on www.safety.dtlr.gov.uk/fire/fepd/bvpi/ bvpi.htm.

Electoral Modernisation Pilot Schemes

Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the names of those local authorities which have applied to him to run electoral modernisation pilot schemes in the May 2002 elections.

Nick Raynsford: My Department has received 41 applications from local authorities to run electoral modernisation pilot schemes during the May 2002 local elections, involving a range of activities. More than half of the bids contain an element of electronic voting and/or counting; the rest are postal voting and some miscellaneous proposals. The local authorities that have submitted bids are:
	Basingstoke and Deane District Council
	Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council
	Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
	Borough of Broxbourne
	Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
	London Borough of Camden
	Chester City Council
	Chorley Borough Council
	Coventry City Council
	Crawley Borough Council
	Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council
	Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
	London Borough of Enfield
	Epping Forest District Council
	Gateshead Council
	London Borough of Greenwich
	London Borough of Hackney
	London Borough of Havering
	Huntingdonshire District Council
	Hyndburn Borough Council
	Ipswich Borough Council
	Kingston-Upon-Hull City Council
	City of Lincoln Council
	Liverpool City Council
	London Borough of Newham
	North Tyneside Council
	North West Leicestershire District Council
	Preston Borough Council
	Rugby Borough Council
	St. Albans City and District Council
	Sheffield City Council
	Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
	South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
	Stevenage Borough Council
	Stratford-on-Avon District Council
	Swindon Borough Council
	Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
	London Borough of Wandsworth
	Watford Council
	West Lancashire District Council
	City of Westminster.
	An announcement confirming which bidders have been successful will be made by the end of this month.

Mobile Homes

David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to propose changes to legislation to provide better protection for the rights of owners of mobile homes; and if he will make a statement.

Sally Keeble: Changes to the legislation relating to park homes were included in the recommendations of the Park Homes Working Party. Following consultation, we issued our response to the Working Party's report on 29 November last year, and placed copies of it in the Library of the House. This gives a detailed response to each of the Working Party's recommendations and indicates how we intend to take them forward.

Special Purpose Vehicles

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list those development plans set out in annexe 2 to the SRA's Strategic Plan which will be subject to the establishment of special purpose vehicles.

Stephen Byers: holding answer 21 January 2002
	The details of the new enhancement framework are currently being developed. The precise number of projects for which SPVs will be created will depend on the outcome of the SRA's negotiations with the private sector, and on factors such as the project's type, complexity and size.

Mobile Phones

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to ensure that third generation mobile telephone base station sites must be a statutory part of new planning guidelines.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 21 January 2002
	On 22 August 2001 we introduced changes that significantly improved the planning procedures and guidance for telecommunications mast development. The changes, which included amendments to Part 24 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (GPDO):
	strengthened public consultation requirements on mast proposals of 15 m and below so that they are the same as for planning applications;
	increased the time for a local planning authority to deal with prior approval applications to 56 days;
	underlined that school governors must be consulted on all proposals for new masts on or near a school or college; and
	increased fees to enable authorities to carry out full public consultation.
	Part 24 of the GPDO does not distinguish between different generations of telecommunications equipment and therefore applies to third generation base stations.

Mobile Phones

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish guidelines for 3G mobile telephony companies to share the use of 3G mobile telephony base stations.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 21 January 2002
	The Government's policy is firmly to encourage mast and site sharing where that is the optimum solution in the individual circumstances. Indeed, conditions attached to individual operating licences granted by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry include a requirement to investigate mast sharing before seeking to put up any new mast.
	Planning Policy Guidance Note 8, "Telecommunications" (PPG8), makes clear our expectation that developers should provide evidence to local planning authorities that they have carefully considered the use of existing masts, buildings and other structures before seeking to erect any new mast, regardless of size. The authority may be justified in refusing prior approval or planning permissions if it considers the evidence regarding the consideration of such alternative sites is not satisfactory. PPG8 is publicly available and applies to all telecommunications development, including 3G base stations.

Mobile Phones

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of new 3G mobile telephony base station sites that will be needed in the United Kingdom.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 21 January 2002
	This is a matter for the individual telecommunications operators. However, the operators are fully aware of the importance we attach to keeping the number of masts to the minimum practicable, for example through mast sharing, and to ensuring that those which are needed are designed and sited with sensitivity and care.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Prisoners (Guantanamo Bay)

Llew Smith: To ask the Solicitor-General 
	(1)  what communications her Department has had with the United States Attorney-General in respect of the legality of the conditions of detention of British citizens held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba;
	(2)  what discussions the Attorney-General has had with the United States Administration on the establishment of ground rules for the military tribunals it is setting up to try suspected terrorists from the al-Qaeda network.

Harriet Harman: The Law Officers and our Department have had no such communications or discussions with the United States Government. Such contacts are a matter for the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

PRIME MINISTER

Lord Birt

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what is the (a) budget and (b) work programme of the (i) Forward Strategy Unit and (ii) Delivery Unit; and who belongs to each;
	(2)  for what period Lord Birt has been appointed to the Forward Strategy Unit;
	(3)  how many times he has met Lord Birt since 1 January;
	(4)  if Lord Birt has access to Cabinet papers relating to transport;
	(5)  how many hours per week Lord Birt works;
	(6)  how much Lord Birt has claimed from official funds by way of out-of-pocket expenses; and how much of this relates to taxi travel;
	(7)  what assessment he has made of how far the degree of information hitherto made public about the role of Lord Birt is consistent with the Government's guidelines on parliamentary accountability;
	(8)  when Lord Birt last travelled by train on official Government business;
	(9)  if he will list the transport organisations Lord Birt has met since his appointment;
	(10)  what secretarial support is available to Lord Birt; and what the expected annual cost of this is;
	(11)  if he will place in the Library a copy of Lord Birt's work on crime;
	(12)  what further information concerning the present activities of Lord Birt will be released when the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is fully in operation;
	(13)  what office space has been made available to Lord Birt; and in which buildings it is;
	(14)  if he will list the Ministers to whom Lord Birt reports.

Tony Blair: The role of the Forward Strategy Unit is to provide long-term strategic analysis to me and to other Cabinet Ministers on a range of issues. The information on the work of the unit in the public domain is consistent with the long-standing principle that internal policy advice to Ministers remains confidential.
	For the current work programme and budget of the Forward Strategy Unit, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 104W.
	For the current work programme and budget of the Delivery Unit, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 83W.
	Ministers, their special advisers and other civil servants meet many people in the course of their work. It is not our policy to make information on meetings or their content public.
	Lord Birt as the PM's unpaid strategy adviser, based at No. 10, works with the Forward Strategy Unit on a range of projects.
	Details of an individual's conditions of appointment are not made public in order to protect the privacy of the individual concerned.
	Lord Birt last travelled by train on official Government business on 28 November 2001 and regularly travels by train on official business. He is entitled to claim reasonable expenses incurred during his work. His travel arrangements and expense claims are in accordance with the rules set out in the Cabinet Office Management Code.
	External advisers when working with the Forward Strategy Unit may have access to its administrative facilities which are accounted for within the unit's budget.
	In line with the practice of successive Governments, access to Cabinet papers is decided on a case-by-case basis.
	As the Government have already made clear, Lord Birt's advice and conclusions on crime were one of the inputs reflected in the Government's strategy document "Criminal Justice: The Way Ahead" (Cm 5074). That document was published and placed before Parliament on 26 February 2001.

Enron

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what meetings have taken place and on which dates between (a) himself, (b) Ministers within the Cabinet Office, (c) officials within No. 10, (d) officials within the Cabinet Office, (e) special advisers within No. 10 and (f) special advisers within the Cabinet Office and representatives of Enron since 1 May 1997.

Tony Blair: It is not the normal practice of the Government to release details of meetings or discussions with private individuals or companies.

Environmental Reports

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Prime Minister how many of the FTSE 350 companies with which he has held meetings in the last 12 months have produced environmental reports; in how many of the meetings he has held with such companies he raised the importance of such reports; and what further action he will take to encourage such reporting.

Tony Blair: I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals. As with previous Administrations it is not my practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Missile Defence

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to know the nature of the request from the US Administration concerning British involvement in the Nuclear Missile Defence programme.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Simpson) on 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 103W.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Listed Buildings

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to reform the listing process for buildings of historic value, with particular reference to where they have a landmark value because of their location and appearance.

Kim Howells: holding answer 14 January 2002
	Buildings will continue to be considered for listing against strict criteria of special architectural or historic interest. The Government's guidance to local authorities in Planning Policy Guidance Note 15—Planning and the Historic Environment stresses a general presumption in favour of retaining unlisted buildings in conservation areas which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of a conservation area. The Government's recent policy statement, "The Historic Environment: A Force for Our Future" (December 2001) stresses the importance of planning authorities taking account of the value a community places on a particular aspect of its immediate environment.

Listed Buildings

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will take steps to ensure that listed buildings cannot be de-listed following an appeal from the owner without public notification and an opportunity for objections to be made.

Kim Howells: Decisions on listing and de-listing are based on expert advice received about a building's architectural and historic interest. There is no formal process for appeals against decisions on listing and de-listing, but we will consider fresh evidence at any time. Given this, we see no benefit in the introduction of a formal appeals procedure.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by her Department since August 2001; and if she will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in Good Policy Making.

Kim Howells: Full regulatory impact assessments are placed in the House Libraries. Since August 2001 the Department has produced regulatory impact assessments in respect of the draft Regulatory Reform (Golden Jubilee Licensing) Order 2002 and the National Heritage Bill, the former coming under (a) and the latter under neither (a) nor (b). I also refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Cabinet Office on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 483.

Tramways (Preservation)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of locations and length of pre-1945 tramways which survive under tarmac or are otherwise intact; and what her policy is on their preservation.

Kim Howells: A search of the schedule of ancient monuments has revealed that there are 11 entries on tramways. The majority of these form parts of industrial sites.
	Under the Monuments Protection Programme, this Department and English Heritage are undertaking a systematic review of England's archaeological resource, with a view to providing statutory protection, principally through scheduling and listing, to those sites identified as being of national interest. Transport systems, including tramways, are being assessed in this context.

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average time is that the Head of her Department has recommended since May 1997 between a special adviser leaving her Department and taking up outside employment; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 594W.

Free Television Licences

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact on elderly residents of warden-accommodation of the rule that free television licences are available only if all the residents of such accommodation qualify for the concession.

Kim Howells: holding answer 21 January 2002
	Under the Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) concessionary scheme, television licences are available at a fee of £5 for each unit of qualifying accommodation. The requirement that sheltered housing must be provided for disabled people, mentally disordered people or retired people aged 60 or over is one of a number of qualifying criteria for entitlement to the concession. The ARC scheme as a whole was examined by the independent review panel on the future funding of the BBC in 1999, but the panel recommended that the existing scheme should be retained, since it was unable to identify a superior alternative funded from the licence fee.
	As announced last year, the Government propose to introduce measures to preserve the rights of ARC beneficiaries who remain in accommodation provided or managed by a local authority, a housing association or a development corporation, when the social mix or the level of warden cover change. Consultations between officials and the BBC about the necessary amendments to the television licence fee regulations are currently under way. We intend to bring forward these amendments as soon as we can but it is important that in doing so we do not create any new anomalies or unnecessary administrative burdens.

Free Television Licences

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to extend the free television licence scheme to all pensioners.

Kim Howells: The Government have no plans to extend free television licences to pensioners below the age of 75.

Seaside Resorts

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of recommendations 60 to 64 of the Budd report on Her Majesty's Government's policy of regenerating seaside resorts.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 21 January 2002
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Lawrie Quinn) on 19 December 2001, Official Report, column 317W.

Broadcasting Bill

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the Broadcasting Bill will be published.

Kim Howells: We have no plans to bring forward a new Broadcasting Bill. However, we are planning to publish in the spring of this year a draft Communications Bill, which will implement the policies set out in the White Paper on Communications that was published in December 2000. The Communications Bill will set up a new converged regulatory structure for telecommunications, spectrum management and broadcasting.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what equipment has been stolen from her Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Kim Howells: Equipment stolen from the Department since May 1997 has been confined to information technology equipment, namely one laptop computer (value £2,000), three personal computer base units (value £1,500) and one personal computer monitor (value £300). All losses are reported by the Department as both a security breach, immediately after the event is detected, and annually to the Treasury as a loss by fraud.

Recreational Boating

Richard Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to encourage the construction of berths along inland waterways and the coastline for recreational and leisure boating.

Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.
	We are looking at what action we may need to take for water-based sport and recreation more generally in the light of the research report—"Water-Based Sport and Recreation: the facts" prepared for DEFRA by the School of Environment, University of Brighton and published on 21 December—on facts about water-based sport and recreation on inland rivers, canals and enclosed waters that we published last month. In general it is for local providers to assess demand and supply in order to determine whether there is a need for a change in provision of berths and other facilities for recreational and leisure boating.

DEFENCE

Stewardship Report

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to publish the first Stewardship report promised in the Ministry of Defence's policy document, "In Trust and On Trust: The Strategy for the Defence Estate".

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence will publish its first Stewardship report on the Defence Estate on Tuesday 22 January. This fulfils the commitment made when "In Trust and On Trust: The Strategy for the Defence Estate" was launched in June 2000.
	"In Trust and On Trust" set out clearly the MOD's policies and priorities as well as performance targets against which the effectiveness of our stewardship of the estate could be judged. It also contained a pledge to report annually against the strategy's goals.
	The Stewardship report which we are now publishing contains comprehensive information on the estate, covering both rural and built environments, and sustainability. This is the first time that the MOD has published such a comprehensive report on its estate. A copy has been placed in the Libraries of the House and also on the MOD website at www.mod.uk.

Departmental Publications

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many publications were issued by his Department in each of the last four years.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence produces a huge range of publications in both hard copy and electronic format. No central record is kept of these and it would not be possible to list each new publication as this could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	However our central corporate communications division, which is responsible for most corporate and policy publications, does have a record of the publications that it and its predecessors have produced. From the information available, the following main publications have been produced in each of the last four years:
	Financial year 1998–99
	Strategic Defence Review (Cmd 999)
	Departmental Performance Report
	Defence Booklets
	Defence Annual Report
	Sanctuary Conservation Booklet
	Defence Factsheets
	Focus internal newspaper
	Financial year 1999–2000
	Defence White Paper (Cmd 4446)
	Defence Annual Report and Mission Booklets
	Defence Booklets
	Defence Factsheets (series of 28)
	Factsheets (in Welsh)
	Large text/Braille/audio material
	Sanctuary magazine
	Focus internal magazine
	Departmental Performance Report
	Financial year 2000–01
	MOD factsheets (series of 33)
	Factsheets (in Welsh)
	Corporate Booklets (including two policy papers on: Defence Diplomacy and Multinational Defence Cooperation)
	Kosovo Lessons from the Crisis (Cmd 4724)
	Departmental Performance Report
	Focus internal newspaper
	Sanctuary magazine
	Financial year 2001–02
	Departmental Performance Report
	Corporate Booklets (including two policy papers on: European Defence and Defence Acquisition)
	Focus internal newspaper
	Sanctuary magazine.

Military Police

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the proposed manning level is for each of the next three years for the (a) Ministry of Defence Police, (b) Royal Military Police, (c) Military Provost Guard Service and (d) RAF Police; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what is the approved number for the (a) Ministry of Defence Police, (b) Royal Military Police, (c) Military Provost Guard Service, (d) RAF Police; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The current figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Requirement Strength 
		
		
			 MOD Police(14) 3,395 3,328 
			 Royal Military Police(15) 2,109 2,073 
			 Military Provost Guard Service(16) 528 453 
			 RAF Police(17) 2,384 2,265 
		
	
	(14) Figures as at 1 January 2002. Civilian support staff not included.
	(15) Strength as at December 2001. Requirement is the Manpower Planning Target for 2001–02 Financial Year. Figures shown are the Adjutant Generals Corp (Provost Branch) which includes: AG(PRO)-General Police Duties (GPD), AG(PRO)-Special Investigations Branch (SIB) and AG(PRO)-Military Provost Staff (MPS).
	(16) Strength as at 1 December 2001. Requirement is the current establishment figure for 2001–02 Financial Year.
	(17) Figures as at 1 December 2001.
	Based on the known Ministry of Defence Police complement alterations, the overall staffing levels for the next three years are expected to be between 3,000 and 3,300.
	The RAF Police are in the process of a major structural reorganisation with a view to reducing the requirement. The trained strength will be reduced over the next six to eight years to align with the reduced requirement. It is likely that the Military Provost Guard Service will increase to offset part of the reduction in the RAF Police but will be aligned to the strength reductions.

Pensions

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the cost to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme of providing widowed spouses of post-retirement marriages with a pension based on all the pensionable service of the service men and women.

Adam Ingram: Post-retirement widow and widower pensions (PRWP) were introduced as a requirement of the Social Security Pensions Act 1975. Provision was made in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) for the payment of pensions to widow(er)s of service pensioners who married (or remarried) after retirement, but this change benefited only the widows of those giving service on or after 6 April 1978, and the widowers of those giving service on or after 6 April 1989. Only service on or after those dates was taken into account when calculating the level of pension. Against this background, it would cost in the order of £50 million to extend PRWP's to all current and deferred AFPS pensioners. This would be a one-off cost based on a broad actuarial estimate.
	There is no distinction between service men and public sector employees with regard to the fact that the PRWP only applies to those with service on or after 6 April 1978, or 6 April 1989. It has been the long-standing policy of successive Governments that discretionary changes to improve the benefits from public service pensions schemes should be implemented from a current date for future service only. To extend the post-retirement marriage concession to survivors of members of all public service occupational schemes would cost between £300 million and £500 million.

Pensions

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what formula is used for the annual uprating of armed forces pensions.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 21 January 2002
	Pensions which are already in payment are increased annually in line with the retail prices index under the terms of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (Pensions Increase) Order.
	The increase in rate of pension payable to those who retire each year is broadly in line with annual pay increases. Armed forces pensions are not based on individual earnings but on a representative rate of pension for each rank. This 'band of brothers' approach ensures that all those who leave in the same year in the same rank and with the same number of years' service, receive the same pension. The representative rates of pension are linked to 'spot' rates of pay for each of the ranks. Annual increases in the spot rates of pay automatically increase the representative rates of pension based on them.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years.

Lewis Moonie: The reported estimated cost to the Ministry of Defence, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies of fraud and theft in each of last complete financial years is as follows:
	
		£ 
		
			  MOD Agencies NDPBs 
		
		
			 1997–98 168,393 421,263 0 
			 1998–99 183,107 527,897 0 
			 1999–2000 1,976,669 60,737 0 
			 2000–01 581,238 300,112 0 
		
	
	No abatement is made for subsequent recoveries. The figures relate to a combination of suspected and proven frauds and thefts with estimated values refined from time to time as investigations, sometime lasting a year or more, reach a conclusion. A significant element of estimated cost or value can relate to 'at risk' estimates applied to suspected procurement fraud cases, the majority of which are usually resolved as 'no crime' or have a proven value lower than original estimates.

Troop Deployments

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the countries in which UK troops are stationed, giving the numbers of troops in each case.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 January 2002, Official Report, columns 821–22W, to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) which shows the number of UK regular forces serving overseas as at 1 November 2001 broken down by service.

Departmental Employees

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many employees of (a) his Department and (b) agencies sponsored by his Department work in (i) London, (ii) areas benefiting from EU Objective 1 status, (iii) areas with Objective 2 status and (iv) other areas.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 19 November 2001
	Statistics on Ministry of Defence employees are not held in the format requested. Officials are currently compiling this information and I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Early Retirement

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) RAF and Royal Marine officers, (b) Navy officers and (c) Army officers have sought early retirement in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The figures for Premature Voluntary Release (PVR) of service officers, broken down by the number of applications and number of actual exits, for each of the three services are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial Year Applications Exists 
		
		
			 1998–99   
			 Navy including Royal Marines 239 164 
			 Army 515 509 
			 RAF 268 243 
			
			 1999–2000   
			 Navy including Royal Marines 221 (18)238 
			 Army 547 442 
			 RAF 243 213 
			
			 2000–01   
			 Navy including Royal Marines 245 (18)167 
			 Army 530 531 
			 RAF 278 241 
		
	
	(18) Exits may exceed applications in any year due to the time taken to process applications

RAF Bases

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel have been carried on tactical exercises from (a) Brize Norton and (b) Lyneham in each of the last five years.

Adam Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Cyber-Warfare

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to set up a cyber-warfare unit in his Ministry.

Adam Ingram: There are no plans to set up a cyber-warfare unit in the Ministry of Defence although structures already exist to co-ordinate the conduct of information operations which encompass existing military capabilities, such as those traditionally used for command and control warfare, as well as computer operations and emerging technologies.

Military Garments

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial checks are carried out on companies tendering for contracts on military garments.

Lewis Moonie: Prior to a company being invited to tender for a contract the Ministry of Defence will have satisfied itself of the company's financial strength. The checks involve obtaining a financial report containing a complete copy of the company's accounts and then carrying out reviews of items such as the balance sheet and operating cost statement.

Challenger 2

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to improve the global deployment capability of the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank fleet.

Adam Ingram: The lessons for the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank (CR2) from Exercise Saif Sareea 2 will be fully evaluated, in the light of ongoing operational experience in a range of environments, before any decisions on changes to the global deployment capability of the CR2 are made.

Cadets

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cadet units have not been allocated cadet centres.

Lewis Moonie: None.

Mutual Defence Agreement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visits of UK personnel to the US under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement have occurred in each year since 1997.

Lewis Moonie: The number of visits by UK personnel, involving one or more individuals, to the US under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement in each year since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number of visits 
		
		
			 1997 200 
			 1998 253 
			 1999 225 
			 2000 207 
			 2001 205

Mutual Defence Agreement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK personnel work in the United States under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement; and in which US facility they are working.

Lewis Moonie: There are four UK officials serving in the US under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement (1958 MDA). All are located in the British Embassy, Washington DC. Their duties are to facilitate the conduct of bilateral business within the provisions of the MDA. In addition there are four staff on secondment from AWE Aldermaston in the US, to assist with the technical development of facilities of mutual interest. Two are stationed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one is located at Sandia National Laboratory and one at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Mutual Defence Agreement

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many exchange of information and visit reports have been generated as a result of exchanges of information under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement in each of the last five years.

Lewis Moonie: Six exchanges of information by visit and reports (EIVRs) have been created within the last five years. In 1997 one on the subject of test monitoring was generated, which first met in 1998. In 1998 one was created on matters concerned with the contract to manage the Atomic Weapons Establishment, which also met in that year. Four EIVRs covering the subjects of executive channel, miscellaneous visits, non-proliferation and arms control technology, and enhanced surveillance were created in 2001.

Nevada Test Site

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK personnel work at the Nevada test site; and how many UK personnel have visited the Nevada test site in each of the last three years.

Lewis Moonie: There are no UK personnel permanently based at the Nevada test site. Numbers of UK personnel who have visited the Nevada test site in the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number of visits 
		
		
			 1999 9 
			 2000 26 
			 2001 40

Explosive Remnants of War

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the outcomes of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Review Conference in December 2001, with particular reference to the issue of explosive remnants of war.

Adam Ingram: The Review Conference of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons agreed a detailed mandate for a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) to discuss ways and means to address the issue of explosive remnants of war over the coming year. The GGE is also mandated to explore the issue of anti-vehicle mines. The Chairman-designate of the GGE will undertake consultations on possible options to improve compliance with the Convention. Interested states parties are invited to hold expert consultations on small calibre weapons and ammunition. The Review Conference agreed to convene a meeting of states parties to the Convention in December 2002 to follow up on these decisions.

Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by the RAF in training Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams.

Lewis Moonie: Individual training costs are not collected. Flight Lieutenant Adams' Initial Officer Training is estimated to have cost approximately £16,500 and his flying training of the order of £770,000 excluding his salary and allowances.

Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the costs incurred in the process of redress initiated by Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the personal files recently supplied to Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams.

Lewis Moonie: In accordance with exemptions 8a and 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, personal data are not to be disclosed without the consent of the individual to whom the information applies. All personal data relating to Flight Lieutenant Adams' redress of complaint are in his possession and it is for him to determine whether and how they should be placed in the public domain.

Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the reasons for no conclusion having been reached through process of redress initiated by Flight Lieutenant A. L. Adams.

Lewis Moonie: Flight Lieutenant Adams voluntarily withdrew from fast-jet flying training in October 1999, and was subsequently restreamed to rotary wing training rather than his preference of multi-engine training. He initiated the process of redress in March 2000. His complaint was rejected by the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Air Force Personnel and Training Command in December 2000. Flight Lieutenant Adams subsequently asked for the matter to be considered by the Air Force Board. Under the procedures followed during the consideration of a redress of complaint, all appropriate documents are disclosed to the complainant, who is invited to comment, before they are submitted to the decision-maker. This inevitably prolongs the process, and Flight Lieutenant Adams has commented, as is his right, on four separate occasions since the relevant synopsis was first disclosed to him in March 2001. It was necessary to postpone a scheduled meeting of the Air Force Board in September in order to take account of his latest comments. The case is now under consideration by the Air Force Board, who have asked for further information on which Flight Lieutenant Adams has been invited to comment before his case can be considered further.

War Criminals (Bosnia)

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of British peacekeeping forces in Bosnia in relation to the hunt for war-crime suspects, with particular reference to Mr. Karadzic.

Adam Ingram: Assistance to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as an integral part of SFOR's mission and this includes the detention of individuals indicted as war criminals that SFOR encounter in the course of their duties. SFOR have to date performed 26 detention operations; 14 of which involved British forces.
	The arrest and transfer to The Hague of Radovan Karadzic remains a high priority for us, as for the other members of SFOR, and the UK will continue to make every effort to ensure that he is apprehended and brought to justice. While the international community may detain war criminals by force if necessary, we continue to urge Mr. Karadzic to surrender himself to the International Tribunal voluntarily.

Royal Navy Vessels

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessels have had modifications and upgrades since 1997; and how long each of them were in port for that purpose.

Adam Ingram: All operational Royal Navy vessels will have undergone some form of modification or upgrade since 1997. Rather than bring vessels into port for specific modifications or upgrades this work will generally have been undertaken within a period in which the vessel is either alongside, docked for maintenance or for repair.

United States National Guards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the presence in the United Kingdom of United States National Guards; what notification he has received from United States authorities of their intention to station such personnel within the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: As with our components of the US visiting force, the presence of US National Guards in the UK is governed by the NATO Status of Forces Agreement of 1951. No request has been received from the United States authorities to station US National Guards permanently in the UK, although they do transit through the UK from time to time.

Russian Armed Forces

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what investment the Government are making in retraining members of the Russian armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: As at 31 December 2001, the Ministry of Defence's Russian Resettlement Project has spent 7.6 million on the retraining of 13,000 retiring and recently retired officers of the Russian armed forces. The Ministry of Defence funds resettlement courses at five cities around Russia. The range of training courses is aimed at the local job market and covers, for example, logistics, business administration, IT systems and English language.
	The Russian Resettlement Project is a major success story of our defence relationship with Russia. Employment is found by 70 per cent. of graduates within four months of successfully completing the course.

European Defence

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with other EU member states about the establishment of a council of European Defence Ministers; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The question of a formal council of Defence Ministers was discussed at the EU General Affairs Council on 19 November 2001 and an informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers on 12 October 2001.
	There is already a programme of informal meetings of EU Defence Ministers, and the General Affairs Council provides a forum for formal discussions as and when required. There are no proposals to establish a separate council of European Defence Ministers.

European Defence

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with other EU member states about the creation of a European concept of Special Forces; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: None.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Shipbuilding Industry

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his policy towards the establishment of a temporary EU defensive mechanism for the shipbuilding industry.

Brian Wilson: We share the UK industry's very real concerns about Korean unfair competition, which we take very seriously. We believe the best means of tackling Korean unfair competition is to launch action in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), on which all member states are agreed, and to help yards improve their competitiveness. However, we are strongly opposed to the Commission proposal to reintroduce, in parallel, temporary operating subsidies.
	We do not believe that subsidy is an appropriate response to this complex and longstanding problem. Operating subsidies have not been effective in countering Korean unfair competition or in improving the competitiveness of EU yards in the past and we believe the Commission's new proposal will be even less effective at countering Korea. The Commission proposal is likely to be difficult to operate in practice and is open to abuse. Furthermore, it will distort competition within the EU as only some member states stand to gain. The proposal will not benefit UK yards as they do not build the relevant types of ships, namely containerships and product/chemical tankers, and could well be damaged by the subsidies that competing yards stand to receive.
	At the December 2001 meeting of the Industry Council, the Commission tried for the third time to secure agreement on its dual approach of subsidies and WTO action but again failed to secure sufficient support from member states. Member states remained firmly split on the subsidies proposal. The UK vigorously pressed the Commission to launch the WTO action but to no avail. The deadlock on the Commission approach therefore continues, with no action against Korea. The Commission will now review the market situation and present its findings in March as a basis for further discussion.

Telephone Sales

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to make it illegal for telephone sales and marketing organisations to withhold their telephone number when contacting members of the public; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: Consumers are protected under the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999 which ensures that direct marketers must on request provide their address or a free telephone number on which they can be contacted. The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 also require that telephone sales and marketing organisations who cold call consumers at home are obliged to identify clearly the business they represent and the commercial purpose of their call at the beginning of the conversation. If a contract is concluded over the telephone, the regulations also give consumers the right to clear information before they decide to buy (which must then be confirmed in writing) and the right to a cooling off period of seven days in which the consumer can cancel and receive a full refund.
	If consumers do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial telephone calls, they can register with the Telephone Preference Service. Telephone sales and marketing organisations are obliged under the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999 to desist from calling individuals who are registered on the scheme.
	Subscribers can register by calling 0845 070 0707 or through the following website: http:// www.tpsonline.org.uk.

Pharmacy Market

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Office of Fair Trading inquiry into controls over the pharmacy market will include within its scope dispensing by general practitioners.

Melanie Johnson: The market study on pharmacies has been initiated by the Director General for Fair Trading and the scope of the study is for him. OFT have confirmed that they are investigating the restrictions on entry to dispense NHS prescriptions. As such the scope of the study could include all those who dispense NHS prescriptions including general practitioners.

Fireworks

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many representations she received from (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public concerning the use, misuse and sale of fireworks between (i) 1 October and 31 December 1999, (ii) 1 January and 30 September 2000, (iii) 1 October and 31 December 2000 and (iv) 1 January and 30 September 2001.

Melanie Johnson: The representations received by the Department over these periods, concerning a wide range of issues relating to fireworks is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Period MPs Public 
		
		
			 1 October to 31 December 1999 119 260 
			 1 January to 30 September 2000 65 109 
			 1 October to 31 December 2000 111 129 
			 1 January to 30 September 2001 125 501

ECGD

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether it is the financial objective of her Department that the ECGD should operate within a break even framework.

Patricia Hewitt: Yes. ECGD aims to maintain a ratio of its reserves to its estimates of Expected Loss on amounts at risk under its guarantees of at least 1.5. Last year ECGD contributed, after expenses, 205 million to the Exchequer.

ECGD

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether it is the policy of her Department to eliminate subsidies from export credits.

Patricia Hewitt: Yes. ECGD charges premium to cover its costs and expected losses such that a Reserve Coverage Ratio (ratio of accumulated reserves to expected losses) is maintained of 1.5 or higher.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by her Department since August 2001; and if she will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in Good Policy Making.

Patricia Hewitt: The Department has produced 10 regulatory impact assessments since August 2001. The RIAs relate to:
	Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations
	The Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (Electronic Communications) Order 2001
	The Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2001
	Utilities Act 2000: Electricity Licence Exemptions
	The Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001
	The Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for use in Explosive Atmospheres (Amendment) Regulations 2001
	The Copyright, etc. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) Bill
	The Registered Designs (Amendment) Rules 2001 and The Registered Designs (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2001 (combined RIA)
	The Trade Marks (Amendment) Rules 2001
	The Electricity from Non-Fossil Fuel Sources (Locational Flexibility) Order 2001.
	All full regulatory impact assessments are placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The Good Policy Making Guide recommends that policy makers take early soundings from affected parties. The results of these informal consultations are not required to be produced in a RIA at this stage. However, Departments are advised to include a partial RIA in formal consultations. Consultations can be accessed via www.ukonline.gov.uk/citizenspace/consultations/.
	The Good Policy Making Guide does recommend that as part of the RIA's assessment of costs and benefits, any additional costs and indirect costs should be identified and quantified stating who or what bears them.
	There is no specific requirement in the Good Policy Making Guide to consult on appropriate methodology. Nor is there a specific requirement to set out the information at (b). The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Ceramics

George Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will ensure (a) respect for copyright, (b) compliance with regulations and (c) traceability for consumer protection on imports of ceramics from China to the United Kingdom under WTO agreements; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths: China became a member of the WTO on 11 December 2001, and is bound by the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). This requires all WTO members to provide certain minimum standards for the protection and enforcement of copyright and other intellectual property rights. The agreement is the first broadly-subscribed multilateral intellectual property agreement that is enforceable between Governments.
	An EU requirement to apply origin markings to ceramic imports from China would be incompatible with WTO rules. However, EC Regulation No. 3295/94 (as amended) allows a right holder to lodge an application with Customs to prohibit the entry into the Community of counterfeit and pirated goods. It also provides for Customs Officers to contact a right holder if they come across suspected infringing goods during the course of their checks. In this case the goods will be detained and the right holder will be invited to lodge an application within a specified period.

Ceramics

George Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the Chinese capability to meet its WTO requirements on counterfeiting and copying of ceramic products.

Nigel Griffiths: China gave a commitment to abide fully with the provisions of the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) by the date of her accession to the WTO. The agreement requires all WTO members to provide certain minimum standards of protection for patents, copyrights, trade marks and other forms of intellectual property protection; and to provide effective provisions for enforcement of these rights. China's accession to the WTO on 11 December 2001 will provide a welcome boost to the ability of rights holders to enforce their rights within China. Foreign countries can look forward to improved safeguards for their rights; and have been promised reinforced co-operation from the Chinese authorities.

Ceramics

George Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on manufacturing industry in North Staffordshire.

Alan Johnson: The North Staffordshire Task Force and Advantage West Midlands are working with local partners to assist manufacturing industry in the area. In addition, the Government recently announced a further 1.5 million support for the Ceramics Industry Forum, many of whose members are in North Staffordshire. I am also meeting my hon. Friend on 23 January to discuss recent announcements by businesses based in the area.

Miners' Compensation

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many former miners' compensation claims have been registered in (a) St. Helens, South constituency, (b) St. Helens metropolitan authority area and (c) Merseyside in relation to (i) vibration white finger and (ii) respiratory diseases.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 21 January 2002
	IRISC, the Department's claims handlers, have registered claims in the regions as follows:
	
		Number 
		
			   (i) Vibration white finger (VWF) (ii) Respiratory disease 
		
		
			 (a) St. Helens, South(19) 439 759 
			 (b) St. Helens metropolitan authority(20) 901 1,605 
			 (c) Merseyside(21) 1,435 2,672 
		
	
	(19) St. Helens, South as defined by the area with postcode prefixes: L 34, 35; WA 9, 10.
	(20) St. Helens metropolitan authority as defined by the area with postcode prefixes: WA 812; L 3435.
	(21) Merseyside as defined by the area with postcode prefixes: CH 4849, 6063; L 3, 910, 12, 14, 1626, 3438; PR 89, WA 812, WN 45

Miners' Compensation

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many respiratory specialists in (a) Merseyside, (b) the north-west and (c) England were working on the Medical Assessment Process for compensating former miners at (i) 1 January 2001 and (ii) 1 January 2002.

Brian Wilson: holding answer 21 January 2002
	As at 1 January 2001, there were 104 respiratory specialists working on the Medical Assessment Process (MAP) living and/or working in England as a whole, of which 10 were working in the north-west region, but none working in Merseyside.
	As at 1 January 2002, there were 155 respiratory specialists working on the MAP living and/or working in England as a whole, of which 19 were working in the north-west region, but none are working in Merseyside.
	North-west centres are defined as: Wigan, Wrexham and Manchester.

Miners' Compensation

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many compensation claims by former miners living in (a) St. Helens, South and (b) St. Helens metropolitan authority (i) have yet to be settled and (ii) have been paid their final sum.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 21 January 2002
	To date, the number of claimants who have not settled their claims or received an offer of compensation, and the number of settled claims is as follows:
	
		
			  St. Helens, South(22) St. Helens metropolitan authority(23) 
		
		
			 Respiratory disease   
			 Number of unsettled claims which have not received offers 728 1,518 
			 Number of settled claims 16 31 
			 Number of offers outstanding with solicitors 15 56 
			
			 Vibration White Finger   
			 Number of unsettled claims which have not received offers 256 521 
			 Number of settled claims 134 255 
			 Number of offers outstanding with solicitors 49 125 
		
	
	(22) St. Helens, South as defined by the area with postcode prefixes: L 34, 35; WA 9, 10
	(23) St. Helens metropolitan authority as defined by the area with postcode prefixes: WA 812; L 3435

Miners' Compensation

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average (a) interim and (b) final payment amount is for (i) Vibration White Finger and (ii) respiratory diseases to former coal miners in (A) St. Helens, South, (B) Merseyside and (C) England.

Patricia Hewitt: There are six different types of interim payments that may be made to claimants for compensation for respiratory disease, subject to conditions. Of these, three are of fixed amounts and are listed as follows:
	
		
			 Type of interim Eligibility 
		
		
			 PD D12 A 2,000 interim is made to claimants in receipt of the Industrial injuries benefit for chronic bronchitis and emphysema 
			   
			 Widows' interim 1 Widows who receive a bereavement award, and have not received any other payment, are entitled to a further interim payment of 2,000 
			   
			 Widows' interim 2 Widows who are not in receipt of a bereavement award, although one of the eight qualifying descriptors is cited on her late husband's death certificate but was not found to cause or materially contribute to the death, and have not received any other payment, are entitled to an interim payment of 1,000 
		
	
	The variable interims are:
	1. Bereavement awards.
	2. Expedited interimswhere an expedited offer has been made, but rejected by the claimant, a proportion of the offer is forwarded while the claimant proceeds the full Medical Assessment Process, MAP.
	3. Post MAP interimswhere a claimant has attended a MAP appointment and for whom the work history has been agreed, but the Department is unable to settle the claim, an interim is made.
	Claims for compensation for respiratory disease can be settled by either an expedited payment following spirometry testing or a full and final offer following MAP.
	The average interim and full and final figure for the above regions are as follows:
	
		 
		
			 Respiratory disease St. Helens, South Merseyside England 
		
		
			 Interim payments
			 Average bereavement award 7,609 8,322 8,210 
			 Average expedited interim n/a n/a 2,862 
			 MAP interim 5,168 4,119 4,024 
			 
			 Full and final offers
			 Average expedited settlement n/a 6,467 5,323 
			 Average full and final settlement following MAP 1,351 1,767 2,380 
		
	
	There are four different interims in respect of Vibration White Finger (VWF) claims as listed:
	1. Standard 1,000
	2. General damages
	3. Anniversary
	4. Services.
	The average interim and full and final figure for the above regions are as follows:
	
		
			 Vibration White Finger St. Helens, South Merseyside England 
		
		
			 Average interim payment 4,562 4,523 5,776 
			 Average full and final payment 7,178 7,348 8,048

Power Stations

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many power stations there are in the United Kingdom and how each one is fuelled.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 21 January 2002
	A list of power stations in the United Kingdom (operational at 31 May 2001 and of more than 1 MW capacity) is given in Table 5.13 of the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2001, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House and on the DTI website. The list shows the fuel used by each station and its generating capacity. In total 165 separate stations appear on the list.

Energy Sources

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the extent to which (a) geothermal, (b) hydroelectric, (c) wind and (d) wave sources of energy are used in the United Kingdom.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 21 January 2002
	We are aware of only one operating geothermal aquifer scheme in the UK, in Southampton, where a geothermal aquifer contributes 2 MW of heat to a 12 MW district heating scheme. The UK is unlikely to see extensive developments based upon aquifers due to a limited resource and limited scope for its exploitation. In the 1980s, the UK conducted major research into geothermal hot dry rock technology, involving the extraction of heat through the artificial injection of water into otherwise dry rock formations, but no prospect was seen at the time of making this technology economically viable in the short or medium term.
	The UK has extensive hydroelectric schemes, most of them long-established. Declared net capacity of UK hydro plants in 2000 was 1,479 MW. Scope for expansion is limited by the availability of suitable new sites and environmental considerations.
	Wind energy is already well established in the UK, and unit production costs have been falling for some years. The British Wind Energy Association calculates that, at the end of 2001, total UK wind energy generating capacity stood at 473.6 MW installed capacity, and that nearly 200 MW more is confirmed for construction in 2002. We are taking vigorous steps to encourage the development of the wind energy industry, with its enormous potential, both onshore and offshore. The UK's first offshore wind energy installation, off Blyth in Northumberland, opened in 2000. The Government are encouraging more ambitious developments offshore by a substantial capital grants programme.
	Wave energy is at an early stage of development in the UK. A 500 kilowatt wave energy device, supported through an SRO contract, is operating on Islay. The Government have recently announced support for further innovative wave energy projects. The UK's potential wave energy resource is enormous.

Household Products

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to introduce legislation to control the use of chemicals in household products; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The safety of chemical products, such as household products, is governed by the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 1994. These regulations require that manufacturers must assess a chemical product for its health effects (toxicity, irritancy etc.). If dangerous the product must then be labelled with a warning symbol and phrases indicating the dangers. The particular chemical(s) which cause the product to be classified must be named on the label.
	The regulations also require that all potentially dangerous chemicals supplied to the public must be in packaging which is properly labelled and contains warnings about the potential hazards and giving brief advice on suitable precautions. Manufacturers or suppliers of household products are also required to give details of how to use the product safely.

International Communications

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many international communications are routed daily through the UK; and what percentage of those are transmitted via satellite.

Douglas Alexander: Many millions of traffic minutes per day are routed through the UK, which is an important transit hub for international telecoms traffic. However, neither the Department nor Oftel maintains statistics on the routing of international communications through the UK or on what percentage of these are transmitted via satellite.

Bananas

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the likely effect on UK banana importers of changes to the EU banana regime.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	The EU banana regime has recently been amended to implement Phase II of the Understanding with the US and Ecuador in response to World Trade Organisation concerns and to end the long-running trade dispute. The main effects of this are to transfer 100,000 tonnes of bananas from the C Quota to the A/B Quota, and to make the C Quota exclusive to bananas originating from ACP countries.
	Detailed European Commission regulations are necessary for the management of the quota regime, and until these have been proposed, it is not possible to determine the effect on individual UK banana importers.

Bananas

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting of the EU Banana Management Committee on 15 November 2001.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	Two European Commission proposals received favourable opinions. The first was to establish the maximum quantity of bananas which may be imported into the Community during the first quarter of 2002 by each registered operator. The second was to amend Commission Regulation 896/2001 to correct certain errors in the text as well as to clarify the rules for determining the reference quantities applicable to traditional operators in the A/B Quota.
	In response to a suggestion from the UK, the chairman proposed to issue a working document on strengthening the rules prohibiting linkage between traditional and non-traditional operators.

Bananas

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates she has made of the value of the reduction in banana imports under C licences as a result of changes to the EU banana regime in the next five years.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	Under the previous arrangements (Phase I of the Understanding with the US and Ecuador), 850,000 tonnes of banana imports under C Quota licences were permitted per year. Under Phase II, the effect on banana traders registered as operators in the C Quota arise both from the transfer of 100,000 tonnes of bananas from the C Quota to the A/B Quota, and from making the C Quota exclusive to ACP countries.
	Total imports from ACP countries in 1999 (the last year for which full data are available) amounted to 676,638 tonnes, with similar quantities in the previous two years. This implies that the changes made in Phase II, taken together, should enable the ACP to continue to achieve a market share comparable with that they have had in the recent past. The value of this to ACP suppliers and individual importers will depend on price developments and, in the case of importers, their licence allocations.

HEALTH

Care Beds

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his plans to increase the number of care beds across the country.

Jacqui Smith: Our policy is to enable people to remain independent in their own homes wherever possible. That is where most people want to receive care. Between 1999 and 2000 there was a 5 per cent. increase in the number of households receiving intensive home care. In addition, in October last year, we announced an extra 300 million investment over two years which will buy a range of services including additional care home placements.

Delayed Discharges

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce unnecessary delays in discharges from hospital.

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made in reducing delayed discharges from hospital.

Jacqui Smith: On 8 January, we announced the allocation to councils of the 190 million Building Care Capacity Grant for 200203. 100 million was allocated nationally for the grant in 200102 and the first payment made in November 2001.
	This additional funding has been used to deliver a significant national reduction in delayed discharges since September 2001.

Delayed Discharges

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were in hospital on 25 December 2001 as a result of delayed discharges.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally on a daily basis.

Social Services

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent measures he has introduced to improve the performance of local authority social services.

Jacqui Smith: The Government have announced the introduction of star rating for social services from this summer to enable councils and the public to see how they are performing. Standards for delivery have been published in National Service Frameworks for mental health and older people. Quality Protects is delivering improved life chances for children. We have also increased the resources available for social services by an average of 3.2 per cent. a year in real terms between 199697 and 200203.

GPs

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects a resolution of the renegotiation of the general practitioners' contract for England and Wales.

John Hutton: The NHS Confederation is leading the negotiations with British Medical Association's General Practitioners Committee, on behalf of United Kingdom Health Ministers. It is committed to putting proposals to UK Health Ministers as soon as practicable. I understand an encouraging start has been made but that further work remains.

GPs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners in England and Wales have received golden hellos.

John Hutton: holding answer 8 January 2002
	To date the Department has received 137 completed application forms since the launch of the scheme on 2 November 2001. There is no information available as to how many applications are currently being processed by health authorities.

GPs

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practice vacancies there were in each of the last two years.

John Hutton: The Department's general practitioner recruitment, retention and vacancy survey 2000 for England and Wales reported 1,214 general practitioner vacancies outstanding at some time in the 12 month period between 1 April 1999 and 31 March 2000. These vacancies were reported by 96 per cent. out of the then 104 health authorities in England and Wales. Eight health authorities did not supply the necessary information.
	For the 2001 survey 98 out of the then 100 health authorities provided information indicating that there were 2,464 general practitioner vacancies outstanding at some time in the 12 month period between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2001.

Cleft Lip and Palate Services

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on establishing a centre of excellence for cleft lip and palate services in the north-west.

Jacqui Smith: Commissioners and national health service trusts in the north-west are working together on options for the location of the cleft lip and palate centre for the region. This work will be completed by March and will be followed by three months public consultation on the options.

Accident and Emergency

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what investment has taken place in the last five years on accident and emergency facilities in England and Wales.

Hazel Blears: A total of 150 million has been invested in accident and emergency departments through the accident and emergency modernisation programme. It is the biggest investment in AE services since the beginning of the national health service. The first wave of investment was for 30 million in 1998, the second was for 85 million in May 1999 and the final wave of funding was made available to the NHS in January 2001.

NHS Dentistry

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he proposes to take in 2002 to improve the provision of NHS dental treatment.

Hazel Blears: An estimated 1.1 billion will be spent on the general dental service and in excess of 50 million revenue will be invested in personal dental service pilot schemes in the current financial year. These levels of expenditure are anticipated to continue in the next financial year.

Primary Care Trusts

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has made to his counterpart in the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions to ensure that local primary care trusts are included as statutory bodies with respect to the proposed changes to the local government planning regime.

John Hutton: The planning Green PaperPlanning: Delivering a Fundamental Changehas only recently been issued by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, and the Department of Health will make representations by the due date of 18 March.
	It is expected that strategic health authorities and primary care trusts will be included as statutory bodies at the appropriate level of the planning regime.

Royal Sussex County Hospital

David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made at the Royal Sussex county hospital, Brighton, following the publication of hospital star ratings.

Hazel Blears: The Department has commissioned reviews of those trusts with a zero star status. This review is currently being evaluated by officials before submission to the Secretary of State for his consideration.
	In the initial review the Royal Sussex county hospital failed to meet three performance targets, namely those of out-patient waiting lists, over 12 hour trolley waits and percentage of patients seen within two weeks of referral with suspected breast cancer.
	Significant improvements have been made in each of these areas which we expect will be confirmed when the findings from the above review are published within the next few weeks.

Waiting Lists

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his plans to reduce waiting times and waiting lists in the NHS.

John Hutton: The NHS Plan sets out the progress this Government want to make over the coming years. The plan, which was announced in July 2000, addresses waiting times for outpatient and inpatient treatment.
	By the end of 2005 the maximum in-patient waiting time will be cut from 18 months now to six months and the maximum out-patient waiting time will be cut from over six months now to three months. Urgent cases will continue to be treated much faster.
	Our objective is to reduce the maximum wait for any stage of treatment to three months by the end of 2008. As a result of delivering these policies we expect the average time for an out-patient appointment to fall to five weeks and the average time that patients have been waiting for in-patient treatment to fall from three months to seven weeks.
	This Government met their 1997 manifesto commitment to reduce the total number of patients on the in-patient waiting list by 100,000. We achieved this in March 2000 and have maintained it ever since. The NHS is expected to continue to reduce the waiting list in order to make achievement of the maximum waiting times more manageable.

Waiting Lists

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trust managers have been dismissed on grounds of gross misconduct after manipulating waiting list figures.

John Hutton: The National Audit Office report Inappropriate adjustments to national health service waiting lists listed nine trusts where inappropriate adjustments had taken place. In two of these trusts, Salford and Stoke Mandeville, the investigations have reached the disciplinary stage. There have been no trust managers dismissed on grounds of gross misconduct in the other seven cases.
	The Department accepts that some of the earlier cases covered in the report were not always handled properly and it accepts in full the recommendations set out the NAO report. In future, any manager found to have deliberately distorted waiting figures will face dismissal on grounds of gross misconduct. This will be supported by a new code of conduct for national health service managers. Anyone who breaches that code of conduct will not be re-employed as a manageranywhere in the national health service.

Health Inequalities

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to tackle health inequalities; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: We have completed our consultation on delivery of the two national health inequalities targets and we expect to publish an implementation plan this year. We are reviewing policy across Government impacting on health inequalities through our cross-cutting spending review and are taking action through a wide range of national health service activity.

Health Inequalities

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in tackling health inequalities.

Yvette Cooper: We have completed our consultation on delivery of the national health inequalities targets and we expect to publish an implementation plan this year. We are reviewing policy across Government impacting on health inequalities through our cross-cutting spending review and are taking action through a wide range of national health service activity.

NICE

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the current programme for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

Hazel Blears: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has to date issued 31 sets of technology appraisal guidance and four sets of clinical guidelines, with a further 44 appraisals and 31 clinical and service guidelines in its forward programme. The guidance published so far covers a wide range of disease areas including cancer, mental health, coronary heart disease, diabetes and long term conditions.

Mental Health

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on developments in the treatment of mental health patients in the Avon health authority area.

Hazel Blears: Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust have plans in place to progress towards the achievement of the targets set out in the mental health national service framework. The trust is working closely with other local NHS bodies to finalise the outline business case for the 68 million scheme for the modernisation of mental health services in Avon.

Mental Health

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the 56 million allocated for high security places for dangerous and severe personality disorder persons in the NHS and for hostel places has so far been spent; and how many NHS places and hostel places have been provided.

Jacqui Smith: New dangerous and severe personality disorder (DSPD) units at Rampton and Broadmoor will deliver 140 places for dangerous and severe personality disorder persons by 2004. These are complex schemes, involving major innovations both in design, and in the approach to service delivery.
	Work has concentrated initially on the Rampton site. To date, there has been capital expenditure of 412,000 at Rampton with a projected spend of 500,000 by year end. This is being committed to meet the costs of early design work, design team fees, and to refurbish accommodation for the DSPD team in Rampton. Work will commence on site in March 2002, with completion due in June 2003, and the expenditure of capital has been profiled to achieve this output. The unit is planned to open in the autumn of 2003. Work on the unit at Broadmoor is at an earlier stage of development, and no capital has been committed. However, it is on target to open in 2004.
	Revenue spend on the Rampton and Broadmoor developments is projected to be 0.35 million this year. This will meet staff costs. At Rampton these costs include the salaries for the project director, consultant psychiatrist, nurse manager, consultant psychologist, business manager, security adviser and secretarial staff. There are also running costs for the DSPD team accommodation, and the costs of a one off study tour of Holland and Germany. At Broadmoor these costs include salaries for the project director and consultant psychiatrist.
	We have decided that money originally earmarked for community hostel places should be allocated to a range of pilot provision within medium secure units and community settings, in order to provide step down care from high security.
	Two units will open in early 2003 with a total of 23 beds for offenders with severe personality disorder, and community teams will be established in three locations to deliver care and treatment to this client group in community settings from 200203. The capital allocation of 3.5 million for these schemes will be committed over 200203.
	Work on both sites is proceeding more slowly than originally anticipated in order to ensure that robust local dialogue takes place in advance of any application for planning permission. It is now estimated that about 50,000 will be committed this year. This will meet the cost of training events for the new clinical teams, together with travel expenses, plus commissioning a study to look at the development of staff competencies and staff training needs in working with people with DSPD in forensic settings.

Mental Health

Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent progress he has made in improving the treatment of mental health patients.

Jacqui Smith: All of the targets set to be achieved by this date in the National Service Framework for Mental Health have been met. These include almost 500 additional secure beds; over 320 24-hour staffed beds; 170 assertive outreach teams; access to services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for all those with complex mental health problems; investment to improve the physical environments in psychiatric wards; and guidance issued to ensure the safety, privacy and dignity of mental health patients.

Funding Formula

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to revise the funding formula for the allocation of resources to health authorities in England and Wales.

John Hutton: A wide ranging review of the weighted capitation formula used to allocate resources to health authorities and primary care trusts in England is currently taking place. A key criterion of the new formula will be to contribute to the reduction of avoidable health inequalities. The intention is that, following the review, the new formula will be ready for 200304 allocations.
	Issues relating to a review of the funding formula for resource allocation in Wales, are a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Migraine

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the treatment of migrainous headaches and migraine.

John Hutton: We would expect that patients suffering from migrainous headaches and migraine would normally be treated by their general practitioner in the first instance. If this failed to resolve the problem then patients could be referred to a consultant neurologist for further investigation and tests.
	The National Research Register is a database of on-going and recently completed research projects funded by, or of interest to, the United Kingdom's national health service. The current issue, Issue 4, 2001, shows that there are 17 on-going projects looking at migraine with another 56 recently completed.

Overseas Treatment

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he is making on the provision of treatment for NHS patients overseas.

John Hutton: Subject to contract, East Kent health authority plan to send 18 patients to France for treatment before the end of January and up to 80 in total by the end of March. West Sussex/East Surrey and Portsmouth HAs are largely concentrating on potential German providers; subject to agreements on contracts they will send a number of patients to Germany in February and March. In total it is hoped that around 200 or more patients will travel to France and Germany for treatment during the pilot period. Initial guidance to the national health service will be published shortly.

Overseas Treatment

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people from (a) East Kent, (b) Portsmouth, (c) West Sussex/East Surrey and (d) other areas of England were sent to other European countries for health treatment between (i) 1 January and 31 December 2001 and (ii) 1 January and 30 January 2002; if he will make a statement on the comparative costs of such treatments compared with the NHS in England, taking into account travel costs; and if he will make a statement on the conclusions of the three test-bed pilot schemes for overseas treatments.

John Hutton: No patients from East Kent, Portsmouth or West Sussex/East Surrey were sent to other European countries for treatment in 2001. Subject to contract, East Kent plan to send 18 patients to France for treatment before the end of January. Portsmouth plan to send one patient to France during the same period. West Sussex/ East Surrey will commence sending patients overseas in February. Portsmouth will send further patients overseas in February and March.
	Direct comparisons of the costs of overseas treatment and national health service costs are not straightforward; for example, prices so far for hip and knee replacements include intensive rehabilitation which would not be included in standard NHS reference costs. In general the prices agreed so far for treatment overseas are in excess of NHS average reference costs but comparable to those in the United Kingdom private sector. However, we would expect better prices if and when we commit to larger volumes of patients travelling overseas to individual hospitals.
	The test bed exercise continues until the end of the financial year. It is therefore too early to draw any firm conclusions.

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve physical access to the new Norfolk and Norwich hospital; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The national health service has spent over 4 million on improving the road to the new hospital and has deposited an additional 1 million for improvements to be carried out.
	The Highways Agency has confirmed it cannot approve proposals for an access road from the A47 to the new Norfolk and Norwich university hospital on the grounds of safety.
	Norfolk county council is considering other options for a second access road to the hospital site. The hospital trust continues to support any proposals for additional access provided such access is safe.

Consultants' Contracts

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he is making in his negotiations with hospital consultants on their new NHS contracts, with particular reference to the proposed seven-year rule; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Our proposals for the new consultant contract, published in February 2001, incorporated improved remuneration and incentives for consultants within a more robust framework of contractual duties and responsibilities, and envisaged that for an initial period, perhaps of seven years, the terms of the contract would prevent newly appointed consultants engaging in similar work outside the national health service.
	These proposals, alongside the British Medical Association's own proposals, form the basis of continuing negotiations.

Global Warming

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what potential new diseases he has identified in the United Kingdom as a result of global warming.

Yvette Cooper: The review Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK was published for comment in 2001. This review is currently being edited and the final report will be published during the next few months. It was prepared by an expert group and focused on a range of impacts. These included the possible increase in local outbreaks of malaria and in diseases associated with ticks. The full report is available on the Department's website http://www.doh.gov.uk/hef/airpol/airpolh.htm.

Care Homes

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the change in the number of care home places since 1996.

Jacqui Smith: The table shows the number of residential places and nursing beds in care homes in England for each year since 1996. The number of places/beds peaked in 1998 at 553,500, an increase of 8 per cent. from 1996. Since then, the total number of places/beds has fallen to 528,000. However, this is still 3 per cent. higher than the 1996 level.
	Further information on places and beds can be found in the Statistical Bulletin, Community Care Statistics 2001: Residential Personal Social Services for Adults, England. A copy of the publication is in the Library.
	
		Residential places and registered nursing beds, 1996 to 2001 -- EnglandRounded numbers
		
			 As at 31 March Residential places in residential care homes(24) Registered nursing beds(25) in nursing homes(26) Total care places 
		
		
			 1996(27) 323,000 190,600 513,600 
			 1997(27) 338,100 196,300 534,400 
			 1998 347,900 205,600 553,500 
			 1999 344,000 202,200 546,200 
			 2000 345,900 193,300 539,200 
			 2001 341,200 186,800 528,000 
		
	
	(24) Includes residential places in dual registered homes
	(25) Includes nursing places in dual registered homes
	(26) Nursing homes are defined as general and mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
	(27) Information in 1996 and 1997 refers to the period 1 October to 31 March for registered nursing beds.
	Source:
	Department of Health annual returns

Care Homes

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of support funding has been given to care home owners to enable them to meet the requirements of the Care Standards Act 2001; what level of funding will be available for the continuing adjustments; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The resources provided for personal social services are increasing by, on average 3.4 per cent. per annum in real terms over the next three years. We expect home owners will cover the costs of meeting the standards through the fees they charge. Local authorities are funded to meet these additional costs. The Government, through the agreement between the statutory and independent social care, health care and housing sectors Building Capacity and Partnership in Care (paragraph 6.2), issued in October 2001, made it clear that service commissioners should not set contract prices for care places mechanistically. We expect them to have regard to providers' costs and efficiencies and planned outcomes for service users.

Care Homes

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds were available in the Hillingdon and Harrow health authority in the care home sector in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000 and (e) 2001.

Jacqui Smith: The table shows the number of places in residential care homes and registered beds in nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics in the areas covered by Hillingdon health authority and the Brent and Harrow health authority area between 1997 and 2001. Information is not separately available for Harrow.
	
		Residential places(28) and registered nursing beds in the Hillingdon -- and brent and Harrow area(29) between 1997 and 2001Number
		
			 At 31 March Places in residential care homes Registered nursing beds in nursing homes(30),(31) Total places/beds  
		
		
			 (a) 1997 2,577 1,361 3,938 
			 (b) 1998 2,586 1,600 4,186 
			 (c) 1999 2,414 1,778 4,192 
			 (d) 2000 2,539 1,718 4,257 
			 (e) 2001 2,537 1,894 4,431 
		
	
	(28) Excludes places in children's homes.
	(29) Information is presented for the area covered by the health authorities of Hillingdon and Brent and Harrow and correspondingly the London boroughs of Hillingdon, Harrow and Brent.
	(30) Registered beds in general and mental nursing homes, hospitals and clinics.
	(31) Information for registered nursing beds in 1997 relates to the period 1 October 1996 to 31 March 1997.
	Source:
	Department of Health's annual returns

Foster Care

Jonathan R Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he takes to monitor the safety of privately fostered children.

Jacqui Smith: Once a local authority has been notified of a private fostering arrangement it is required under the Children Act 1989 to be satisfied that the foster parents, household and accommodation are satisfactory and that the welfare of the child is being safeguarded and promoted.
	The private fostering arrangement has to be monitored by the local authority, through supervising, regulating and advising the foster carers and parents. The local authority is required to visit at specified intervals and to report on these visits. They have the power to impose requirements, or if there are serious concerns, to prohibit the fostering arrangement.
	A chief inspector's letter was issued in 2000 reminding local authorities of their duties for supervising children placed in private foster arrangements.
	The chief inspector heads the social service inspectorate, (SSI) a professional division of the Department, and independent of the local authority, voluntary and private sector providers of social services. The SSI is responsible for inspecting local council personal social services provision and its organisation and management in order to promote quality standards, improve effectiveness and efficiency, and ensure the safety and well-being of service users.

Abortion

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the health authorities which do not offer abortions within 10 weeks.

Yvette Cooper: All health authorities in England and Wales funded some national health service abortions within 10 weeks gestation of pregnancy in 2000. However, the percentage funded by the NHS varied, and ranged from 26 per cent. in one health authority area to 96 per cent. or more in three health authority areas.
	The sexual health and HIV strategy states that services should be developed to provide NHS funded abortions in line with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' clinical guideline Induced Abortion and has set a target that from 2005, commissioners should ensure that women who meet the legal requirements have access to abortion within three weeks of the first appointment with the general practitioner or other referring doctor.

Adoption

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is his intention to extend the right of adoption to (a) unmarried opposite sex couples and (b) same sex couples; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 29 November 2001
	We are looking thoroughly at the many and complex issues of partnership registration, rights and responsibilities. Adoption will, alongside all other relevant issues, be considered as part of that work.
	Under the existing Adoption Act 1976 single people may adopt (regardless of sexual orientation), but only married couples may adopt jointly. It is open for one unmarried partner to adopt a child and for the other to obtain parental responsibility by applying for a residence order in respect of the child. The Adoption and Children Bill makes no change in this area. The Government's intentions will, of course, be subject to the parliamentary consideration of the Bill currently under way.

NHS Professionals

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he intends to review the NHS's use of framework agreements as part of the tendering process for NHS professionals.

John Hutton: London, where the first framework agreement was completed, has been the subject of on-going review in line with the structured and widely recognised project management methodology, PRINCE. An initial evaluation was completed with findings presented to the London Agency Project Board. Further evaluation will take place in six months with good practice shared with others undergoing similar processes.

Revenue Resource Allocations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what amount in (a) real terms and (b) percentage terms of the health authority revenue resource allocations announced on 6 December are accounted for by estimated (i) salary increases for (A) pay review body staff and (B) non-pay review body staff, (ii) medical price inflation, (iii) new pension contribution rates, (iv) implementation of planned national service frameworks and (v) special arrangements for speeding up heart operations.

John Hutton: holding answer 8 January 2002
	Health authority revenue allocations for 200203 include funding to meet increases in pay, prices and other pressures faced by all health authorities, and to implement national service frameworks, but these are not separately identified within allocations.
	A small number of initiatives, including action to speed up heart operations and extend choice for those who wait longest for heart surgery, will be funded through central budgets. Details will be announced later.

Prosthetics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what research is being carried out into prosthetics practice in the UK;
	(2)  what research is being carried out into trans-femoral socket and limb prescription, design and delivery.

Jacqui Smith: The Department is not currently funding any research in these two areas.
	However, the Department does provide support for research commissioned by charities and the research councils that takes place in the national health service. Details of on-going and recently completed research projects funded by, or of interest to, the NHS are available on the National Research Register at www.doh.gov.uk/ research/nrr.htm.

Prosthetics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy to make state-of-the-art prosthetics available on the NHS to those who want them;
	(2)  what plans he has to make state-of-the-art prosthetics available on the NHS.

Jacqui Smith: The national health service already has available to it, via contracts negotiated by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, the widest possible range of prosthetic limb components available. The decision as to which type of prosthesis an individual patient receives is one that should be decided at a local level taking into account an individual's clinical circumstances.

Prosthetics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the NHS prosthetics expenditure in the last financial year for which records are available per amputee; and what proportion of this expenditure was used on (a) administration, (b) prosthetics staff and (c) prosthetics.

Jacqui Smith: The Department does not collect information on the financial expenditure on each individual amputee. Expenditure is decided at a local health authority and national health service trust level.
	The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency estimate that some 23 million including value added tax was spent on prosthetic service contracts and a further 13 million including VAT was spent on prosthetic limb hardware and associated items during 19992000.

Prosthetics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact on the UK prosthetics industry of the emigration of qualified prosthetics professionals and technicians.

Jacqui Smith: There has been no report of a significant impact on the United Kingdom prosthetic industry due to the emigration of qualified prosthetic professionals and technicians.

Prosthetics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training is given to orthopaedic surgeons on prosthetics and orthotics, with specific reference to the functional implications of the various levels of amputation and residual limb lengths.

Jacqui Smith: The Royal College of Surgeons is the body responsible for the training of medical students on surgery. The majority of amputations are carried out by vascular and general surgeons, and relatively few are undertaken by orthopaedic surgeons. Orthopaedic surgeons receive training on amputations and prosthetics at various stages of the medical curriculum, such as:
	Medical students receive lectures and tutorials on general surgery, and are taken to a limb fitting centre.
	Basic surgical trainees will receive training from mainly vascular surgeons on the practical skills of common amputations.
	Specialist Registrars receive higher surgical training on amputation and rehabilitation, and on prosthetics and orthotics.

Prosthetics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has given to disablement service centres for the prescription and delivery of prosthetics.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not issued any guidelines to disablement services centres for the prescription and delivery of prosthetics. Prescriptions and delivery criteria are decided at a local level to take account of an individual patient's clinical need.

Prosthetics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the level of funding for prosthetics in each of the last five financial years for which records are available; and what level is anticipated for the (a) current and (b) next financial years.

Jacqui Smith: The level of funding on prosthetic services is not separately identified in health authority financial baseline allocations. But on 9 January 2001 we announced that funding for providing silicone cosmesis to prosthetic limb users was to be made available totalling 4 million over the next three years. The funding started in April 2001 with 0.5 million for 200102, 1.5 million for 200203 and 2 million for 200304. This was an addition to the baseline allocation.
	The local health authority will decide the level of funding an individual disablement service centre receives. We would not expect the level of funding a DSC receives next financial year to be any less than invested this financial year.

Amputees

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many amputees there are in England.

Jacqui Smith: The latest collection of data from the year 199899 reported that there were 51,498 patients with amputations in contact with their national health service limb centre in England.

Amputees

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines have been issued on the use of ischial containment sockets for amputees.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not issued any central guidelines for the issue of ischial containment sockets. Ischial containment sockets for amputees are issued on the basis of a clinical decision made by the multi-professional team at a national health service trust.

Amputees

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many amputations have been carried out in each of the last five years for which records exist, as a result of necrotising fasciitis.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not available centrally.

Fraud

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the cost to its budget since 1 May 1997 of fraud; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The figures requested are in the table.
	
		 
		
			 Year Amount 
		
		
			 199798 61,415.25 
			 199899 66,897.29 
			 19992000 48,148.81 
			 200001 56,831.99 
		
	
	The Department of Health now has a Directorate of Counter Fraud Services staffed by professionally trained and accredited counter fraud specialists.

Children at Risk

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent steps have been taken to ensure co-ordination between local authorities' social and educational services with regard to supporting children at risk;
	(2)  what measures the Government are taking to protect children identified as being at risk.

Jacqui Smith: The safeguarding of children at risk is a high priority for us. That is why over the last few years we have introduced new legislation, new guidance, new structures and new policy initiatives to make children safer and to ensure that there is a proper focus on children at the very heart of Government. These measures include:
	The Care Standards Act 2000 to improve the inspection and regulation of children's care services, and the Protection of Children Act 1999 which makes it much more difficult for unsuitable people to work with children;
	Revised core inter-agency child protection guidance: Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999) and the new Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families (2000);
	New guidance focusing on Safeguarding Children Involved in Prostitution (2000) and a National Plan for Safeguarding Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation (2001);
	A Minister for Young Peoplemy right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchin (Mr. Denham)and a new Cabinet Committee focusing on Children and Young People's issues;
	The first ever national Children's Rights Director for EnglandRoger Morganto act as a powerful champion for some of the most vulnerable children in our country;
	The establishment of the Children and Young People's Unit, which is responsible for ensuring the coherence of Government polices that affect all children and young people under 19;
	Radical new initiatives such as the 885 million Quality Protects programme, Sure Start and Connexions.
	The child protection guidance: Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999) and the new Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families (2000) both give specific guidance on how education and social services departments should work together to support children in need.
	Co-ordination of the planning and delivery of services by education and social services departments is a key element of the Government's five year 885 Quality Protects programme, which is improving the management and delivery of children's services. The Government have published Objectives for Children's Social Services. The Department's public service agreement contains targets including improving the educational outcomes of children in need and children looked after. Local authorities have to produce annual QP management action plans (MAPs) on how they are moving towards the achievement of these objectives. The national overview report of local authority's QP MAPs published in October 2001 reported in relation to services for children in need
	 . . . in general there is plenty of evidence of good collaboration between education and social services; and as these partnerships develop the focus of their work is beginning to broaden and
	closer partnerships in a range of contexts are beginning to draw social work expertise and the needs of vulnerable children onto agendas which in the past might have been seen as 'purely educational'. In October 2000, the Department of Health and Department of Education and Employment jointly issued Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Public Care. The national overview report shows that for looked after children
	MAPS this year included considerable evidence of joint working between education and social work staff, designed to support the education of looked after children.
	In Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century issued in March 2001, the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Employment, agreed to further work together to build on our special education needs (SEN) programme of action. The recently published revised special education needs code of practice, gives guidance on how social services and education departments should jointly plan and meet the needs of children with SEN. The SEN Toolkit issued with the code of practice, included a section on the role of social services. This was sent to directors of education and social services. Work has also begun on the commitment in Valuing People to find out more about the numbers, characteristics and outcomes of disabled children in residential schools and other residential placements, who are known to be particularly vulnerable to abuse.
	Learning disability partnerships boards have been set up in local authority areas to oversee and advise on the implementation of the adult aspects of Valuing People. Membership should include representation from a range of statutory sector interests, including social services and education. Guidance issued to local councils in August said that one member should be appointed to be a champion for child/adult transition issues. The guidance adds that boards will need to develop effective links with other agencies whose responsibilities are relevant to implementing valuing people; these will include Connexions partnerships, local learning partnerships, further education colleges, and education institutions.

Primary Care

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the levels of investment in primary care research and development have been in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: The Department's estimated expenditure on primary care research and development for the years since 1997 are:
	
		
			 Year  million 
		
		
			 199697 31.1 
			 199798 30.0 
			 199899 31.3 
			 19992000 39.0 
			 200001 38.4

Cancelled Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations have been cancelled in each of the last four quarters.

John Hutton: Data on the number of operations cancelled, by region and health authority, for the time periods requested, are available in the Library.
	Data are collected on the number of operations cancelled at the last minute. The latest published figures are for Quarter 1 200102.
	Operations cancelled at the last minute are those cancelled by the hospital, for non-medical reasons, on or after the day the patient was due to be admitted.

Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy Service

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS was of (a) concentrators and (b) cylinder oxygen as part of the Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy Service in the last year for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: The figures requested are shown in the table.
	
		Cost of Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy Service, England, 200001
		
			   million 
		
		
			 Payments to suppliers of oxygen concentrators 14.3 
			 Net ingredient cost of oxygen supplied in cylinders, and oxygen masks(32) 9.6 
			 Fees paid to pharmacies for the collection and delivery of cylinders and provision of associated equipment 14.4 
		
	
	(32) Net ingredient cost (NIC) refers to the headline reimbursement cost of the drug before the deduction of discount and does not include any dispensing costs or fees.
	Source:
	Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA)

Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy Service

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to improve the provision of oxygen through the Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy Service.

Jacqui Smith: We will be considering options shortly.

Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy Service

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients received domiciliary oxygen supply services in each year since 1992.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Invalid Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many invalid vehicles provided under the invalid vehicle scheme up to 1976 were on the road in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The number of vehicles provided under the invalid vehicle scheme at the end of each of the last five years was as follows:
	
		
			 Year Total fleet size 
		
		
			 199697 1,215 
			 199798 1,054 
			 199899 951 
			 19992000 754 
			 200001 629 
		
	
	Everyone leaving the invalid vehicle scheme will be eligible to receive indefinitely the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance, currently set at 38.65 a week rising to 39.30 from April 2002. They may choose to use this, for example, to obtain a motorised scooter or a four wheeled car specially adapted to each driver's needs through the motability scheme. Help with driving lessons is available. Technical officers from the service have visited each driver to discuss his or her future needs and to help decide what option to take.

National At-Risk Register

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to introduce a national at-risk register to co-ordinate those lists which exist at a local level.

Jacqui Smith: A central register is maintained for each area covered by a social services department. The register lists all the children resident in the area (including those who have been placed there by another local authority or agency) who are considered to be at continuing risk of significant harm, and for whom there is a child protection plan.
	Working Together to Safeguard Children implemented better ways of making sure these registers link up together more effectively when a child moves from place to place. Since the publication of Working Together in December 1999, it has been the case that if a child and family have moved permanently to another local authority area, the receiving local authority should convene a child protection conference within 15 working days of being notified of the move. Only once this has taken place may de-registration take place in respect of the original local authority's child protection register.
	We have no plans at present to introduce a national risk register.

Accident Rates

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the accident rate per 100 persons has been in each of the last available five years.

Yvette Cooper: The number of in-patient admissions for accidents and rates per 100,000 population is shown in the table.
	
		Hospital episode statistics: Admissions and rates per 100,000 population where the primary diagnosis(33) is accidents (ICD10 codes S00-T98) with a relevant cause(34) code (CD10 codes V01-X59, Y40-Y84)
		
			 Year Admissions Rates per 100,000 population 
		
		
			 200001 467,036 934 
			 19992000 491,364 988 
			 199899 471,297 952 
			 199798 480,525 975 
			 199697 474,469 967 
		
	
	(33) The primary diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics data set, and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
	(34) The cause code is a supplementary code which indicates the nature of the condition.
	Note:
	Data in this table are adjusted for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data, except for 199899 to 200001 which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health

Wheelchairs

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many electrically powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs have been made available in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how much the NHS has spent on the provision of electrically-powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many people have utilised NHS vouchers as part-payment for powered wheelchairs in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: Figures on expenditure on electrically powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs (EPIOCs) are not collected centrally, nor are figures for numbers of vouchers issued separated into manual wheelchairs and EPIOCs.
	The table gives the only date available centrally. A number of these figures are incomplete (as annotated):
	
		
			 England 199798 199899 19992000 200001 
		
		
			 Number of powered wheelchairs issued 4,464 4,033 3,388 (36)3,279 
			 Number of vouchers issued for wheelchairs (35)560 (36)5,010 6,305 (36)6,250 
		
	
	(35) Collection of data was not mandatory
	(36) Incomplete figure (one return missing)

Mixed Sex Wards

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the definition of a mixed sex ward includes those wards which use privacy screens.

Hazel Blears: The term mixed sex ward can be used to describe a variety of arrangements. The use of partitioning as a means of dividing wards into bays, which are then used to accommodate either male or female patients, is an acceptable means of protecting patients' privacy and dignity.
	However, the use of moveable privacy screens alone is not acceptable, as these provide poor physical separation of facilities. Their use as an adjunct to permanent solutions, such as partitioning, can be helpful in further enhancing a sense of privacy and dignity.
	Guidance on maintaining privacy and dignity was first issued to the national health service in 1997. This guidance clearly states that any screening in use must be adequate to ensure privacy is maintained, e.g., which will prevent patients being overhead or overseen by others, where this is not desirable.
	Protecting patients' privacy and dignity is of paramount consideration, irrespective of whether the ward is single-sex or accommodates both male and female patients in appropriately designated bays.

Hillingdon and Harrow Health Authority

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were waiting for in-patient treatment in the Hillingdon and Harrow health authority on 1 January in each year from 1997 to 2002.

John Hutton: The information requested is provided in the table.
	
		Number of patients waiting for in-patient treatment for Hillingdon and Brent and Harrow health authoritiesDecember 1996 to November 2001
		
			  Hillingdon HA Brent and Harrow HA 
		
		
			 December 1996 5,138 10,735 
			 December 1997 5,789 11,817 
			 December 1998 4,689 10,122 
			 December 1999 4,311 9,108 
			 December 2000 3,897 8,462 
			 November 2001(37) 4,215 8,046 
		
	
	(37) November indicates monthly data
	Note:
	Data are quarterly

CFS/ME

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when the report to the Chief Medical Officer on the most effective forms of treatment and management for CFS/ME will be published;
	(2)  what plans he has to provide better access to medical support for ME sufferers;
	(3)  what his estimate is of the total number of ME sufferers in the United Kingdom;
	(4)  how many ME clinics there are in the United Kingdom; and where they are located;
	(5)  what support his Department is giving to research into ME.

Jacqui Smith: The independent chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) working group's report was published on 11 January 2002 and can be downloaded from http://www.doh. gov.uk/cmo/ cfsmereport/index.htm.
	The report of the independent CFS/ME working group has identified CFS/ME as a specific illness. The report makes a number of recommendations around recognition and definition of the illness: treatment and care; health service planning; education and awareness; and research. We shall be bringing this report to the attention of CEs of health authorities, trusts, and primary care trusts so that they can consider its implications when commissioning services.
	The Department has commissioned research into the diagnosis and treatment of CFS/ME and details are available on the National Research Register which can be accessed via the Department's research and development websitewww.doh.gov.uk/research. The Department has asked the Medical Research Council to develop a broad strategy for advancing further biomedical and health services research on CFS/ME.
	The information on the number of ME sufferers in the United Kingdom is not collected centrally. However, the CFS/ME working group report suggests that each strategic health authority should make provision for secondary and tertiary care for people with CFS/ME, based on an estimated annual prevalence rate of approximately 4,000 cases per million population, in the absence of more refined data.
	ME is mainly managed in primary care. The range of symptoms and other conditions associated with it should be investigated and treated by the most appropriate primary, community or secondary care service. General practitioners should usually be able to manage most cases in the community setting, but should be able to refer patients for specialist opinion and advice where appropriate. It is the responsibility of local health authorities to commission services for their local populations including those suffering from CFS/ME. Information on the number of specialist ME clinics in the United Kingdom is not available centrally.

CFS/ME

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department has taken to increase public knowledge and awareness of ME;
	(2)  what arrangements exist between the NHS and health services abroad to exchange information about ME;
	(3)  what data are collated by the NHS on the (a) prevalence and (b) treatment of ME;
	(4)  if he will make a statement about Government- sponsored research into the (a) causes of and (b) potential cures for ME;
	(5)  if he will make it his policy to support research into a possible diagnostic test for ME;
	(6)  what assessment he has made of the numbers of (a) adults and (b) children suffering from ME in each of the last 10 years;
	(7)  what steps he is taking to ensure that GPs and consultants are advised of new developments in the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of patients with ME.

Jacqui Smith: The chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) independent working group's report has identified CFS/ME as a specific illness. The report was published on 11 January and has been placed on the Chief Medical Officer's website so that it can be accessed by all interested parties including general practitioners and consultants. It is hoped that the report and the summary for clinicians will result in improved awareness and understanding of this condition.
	The report makes a number of recommendations around recognition and definition of the illness: treatment and care; health service planning; education and awareness; and research. We shall be bringing this report to the attention of chief executives of health authorities, national health service trusts and primary care trusts so that they can consider its implications when commissioning services.
	The Department has commissioned research into the diagnosis and treatment of CFS/ME and details are available on the National Research Register which can be accessed via the Department's research and development websitewww.doh.gov.uk/research. The Department has asked the Medical Research Council to develop a broad strategy for advancing further biomedical and health services research on CFS/ME.
	The information on the number of ME sufferers in the United Kingdom is not collected centrally. However, the CFS/ME independent working group report suggests that each strategic health authority should make provision for secondary and tertiary care for people with CFS/ME, based on an estimated annual prevalence rate of approximately 4,000 cases per million population in the absence of more refined data. This equates to a population prevalence of at least 0.2 per cent.-0.4 per cent. If children only are considered the figure is lower at 0.07 per cent.
	We are not aware of any formal arrangements for exchanges between the NHS and health services abroad on CFS/ME. The only exchanges would be through ad hoc meetings and professional networks of relevant experts.
	Regarding research into a possible diagnostic test for CFS/ME, we have asked the Medical Research Council to develop a broad strategy for advancing further biomedical and health services research on CFS/ME.

Public-Private Partnerships

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which companies that have been involved in public-private partnerships with his Departments have become insolvent since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Information is not collected centrally about the status of individual companies involved in public-private partnerships. Individual national health trusts are responsible for managing contracts with their private sector partner.
	Private finance initiative contracts deal comprehensively with the possibility of early termination due to contractor default, including through insolvency, in order to protect the public interest.

Respiratory Disease

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the BMA and the British Thoracic Society concerning the number of respiratory specialists needed in the NHS.

John Hutton: We have not had any recent discussions with the British Medical Association and the British Thoracic Society concerning the number of respiratory specialists needed in the national health service.

West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures were used to appoint the chief executive of the West Midlands South strategic health authority; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The appointment of the chief executive designate of the Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire health authority, in common with that for all the chief executives designate of the other health authorities, was through a process of open competition. The chief executive posts were advertised nationally. The appointment process included the national health service chief executive, regional commissioners from the NHS appointments commission, the directors of health and social care in the Department, patients representatives and the health authority chairs designate. Chief executives will be formally appointed to health authorities on the basis of their franchise plans following the establishment of the new health authorities in April.

Morning-after Pill

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many schools the morning-after pill is available; and whether the joint Department for Education and Employment/Department of Health guidance Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs: A Good Practice Guide (HMSO, 1996) applies to its supply in schools.

Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of schools with on-site health service providing emergency contraception to pupils is not collected centrally. The circular (14/96) and accompanying good practice guide, Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs, jointly issued by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department, is written for school teaching staff, local education authorities and governing bodies. It is not applicable to health professionals who provide prescription only medicines to under 16s within an agreed legal framework and arrangements set out in patient group directions. There are no circumstances in which teachers supply emergency contraception.

Female GPs (Pensions)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on pension rights for female GPs.

John Hutton: holding answer 17 January 2002
	The pension rights for female general practitioners are the same as those for male GPs, apart from the treatment of widows' and widowers' benefits. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the former Member for North Norfolk on 13 January 1999, Official Report, column 212W.

Redwood Hospital

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he agreed a price for the PPP deal at Redwood hospital between the Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust and BUPA; if a final agreement had been signed off prior to his announcement of the deal on 4 December 2001; what the price is per patient of treatment in the PPP deal at Redwood hospital; and what estimate he has made of the number of nurses who will need to be recruited to increase the capacity at the Redhill/Redwood hospital site following the BUPA deal.

John Hutton: holding answer 17 January 2002
	On 4 December 2001 we announced that we are in discussion over a proposal for the BUPA Redwood facility to become a diagnostic and treatment centre, treating national health service patients. Discussions of a range of detailed issuesincluding prices and staffing issuesare continuing. Our aim is to secure high quality services for patients and value for money. A final agreement will not be signed until discussions are satisfactorily concluded.

Stroke Services

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which NHS trusts employ (a) stroke nurse consultants and (b) stroke liaison nurses;
	(2)  how many NHS Trusts have in place a multi- disciplinary programme of secondary prevention and rehabilitation for those who have suffered strokes;
	(3)  which stroke rehabilitation units admit people under the age of 55 years.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 17 January 2002
	The information requested is not collected centrally. However, the National Service Framework for Older People includes a standard for stroke. The service model for integrated stroke services and the milestones for action apply equally to all stroke patients, irrespective of age.
	It is the role of health authorities, in partnership with primary care groups and trusts, to decide what services to provide for their populations including the employment of stroke nurses. They are best placed to understand local health needs and commission services to meet them.
	The NSF will need to cover or link to prevention, acute care, rehabilitation and long-term support for stroke patients and their carers. April 2002 is the milestone for every general hospital which cares for people with stroke to have plans to introduce a specialised stroke service from 2004.

Southend General Hospital

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the closure of the cancer unit at Southend General Hospital is under consideration; and which body or person has the responsibility for determining the minimum catchment area size of such units.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 17 January 2002
	The closure of the cancer unit at Southend hospital national health service trust is not under consideration. The body which determines the minimum catchment area of cancer networks is the relevant regional office of the Department. Cancer networks in the eastern region were last reviewed in 1999. The south Essex cancer network was endorsed by NHS executive eastern despite the fact it falls below the Calman-Hine recommendation that cancer networks should serve a minimum population of 1 million. Current cancer services in the south Essex cancer network serves a population of approximately 680,000.

Barium Enemas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what performance targets he has set for the waiting time for a barium enema.

Yvette Cooper: We have acknowledged the importance of diagnostic procedures, and are encouraging hospitals to streamline their services so that tests are carried out, and a diagnosis made, as quickly as possible.
	There are no specific performance targets set for the waiting time for a barium enema. However, where this diagnostic procedure is to be used to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of bowel cancer, specific targets have been set. From July 2000, a two week out-patient waiting time standard has been introduced for urgent general practitioner referrals of patients with suspected bowel cancer.
	The length of time that a patient might have to wait for any diagnostic procedure is dependent on their clinical condition with priority given to urgent cases.

Antipsychotic Medicines

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made as to the opinion of psychiatrists on the efficacy of atypical antipsychotic medicines.

Jacqui Smith: The Medicines Control Agency (MCA) is the United Kingdom Government agency responsible for ensuring that all medicines on the UK market are safe, effective and of suitable quality. Any new drug substance which has not been marketed before in the UK will be assessed by the MCA's independent advisory committeethe Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM). The CSM has psychiatrists among its membership and can also bring in psychiatric expertise if necessary on an ad hoc basis. The CSM assesses medicines purely on the basis of safety versus efficacy and does not consider cost effectiveness.
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has been asked to provide guidance concerning the clinical and cost effectiveness of atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia. The process of drawing up this guidance involves a detailed appraisal of the available literature followed by drafting of the guidance. The latter activity will include a range of expertise, including psychiatric.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years.

Denis MacShane: The cost of theft from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK over the last four years can be broken down into:
	1998: 470
	1999: 4,400
	2000: 5,200
	2001: 9,630.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by his Department since August 2001; and if he will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in Good Policy Making.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have produced no regulatory impact assessments since August 2001. For further information, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 483W.

Religious Persecution

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what training is available in his Department in the recognition of religious persecution.

Peter Hain: Promotion of human rights, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, is at the heart of our foreign policy. We condemn instances where individuals are persecuted because of their faith or belief, wherever they happen and whatever the religion of the individual or group concerned.
	Our approach is to treat religious freedom as an integral part of our foreign policy. Protecting and promoting freedom of religion is most effective when it is done in the context of the promotion and protection of other human rights. So we emphasise that human rights are everyone's business. That is why we have made human rights an essential element of training for all policy officers, including ambassadors.
	We work closely with Amnesty International and other NGOs in designing and running our Human Rights courses. Courses are open to members of other Government Departments, including the Home Office, to attend.
	In addition all decision-makers in the Joint Entry Clearance Unit and staff serving overseas as Entry Clearance Officers or Managers or Consular Officers receive training on the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1999 and the European Convention on Human Rights, which includes freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
	The FCO also offers its staff a wide-ranging programme of training on inclusion and diversity issues. Our Managing Inclusion course is core training for all grades, both at home and overseas. Regional diversity training is also available for staff engaged locally overseas.

Religious Persecution

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what resources are available in his Department to monitor human rights violations of Christians;
	(2)  what responsibility UK embassies have been given to monitor religious freedom in the host country.

Peter Hain: Promotion of human rights, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, is at the heart of our foreign policy. We condemn instances where individuals are persecuted because of their faith or belief, wherever they happen and whatever the religion of the individual or group concerned.
	The Human Rights Policy Department (HRPD) is the FCO's central point of advice and expertise on human rights, including freedom of religion. But we emphasise that human rights are everyone's business. Staff at our posts and on geographical desks in London monitor human rights abuses overseas, including persecution of Christians. Human rights is an essential element of training for policy staff, including ambassadors and staff serving overseas as entry clearance officers or managers.
	The FCO, in a number of ways, supports practical projects promoting human rights on the ground, including through the Human Rights Project Fund (HRPF). Since its inception in April 1998, the fund has supported over 400 projects and allocated more than 15 million in some 90 countries around the world. Its budget for financial year 200102 has been increased to 6.8 million.

Religious Persecution

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of Christians persecuted across the world in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Peter Hain: Promotion of human rights, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, is at the heart of our foreign policy. We condemn instances where individuals are persecuted because of their faith or belief, wherever they happen and whatever the religion of the individual or group concerned.
	Staff at our posts and on geographical desks in London monitor human rights abuses overseas, including persecution of Christians. But the FCO does not collate figures on the number of Christians persecuted across the world, not least because of the difficulty in defining this category.
	Collecting this information for this PQ would represent a disproportionate cost.

UK Prisoners Abroad

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK citizens are in prisons outside the United Kingdom.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mr. Lazarowicz) on 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 306W.

UK Prisoners Abroad

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to extend financial assistance to families visiting relatives in prison abroad.

Ben Bradshaw: The FCO has no plans to extend financial assistance to families visiting relatives in prison abroad. However, consular staff overseas can and do help to arrange family visits to prisoners detained abroad.

Falkland Islands

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent meetings there have been with Argentine officials over the future of the Falkland Islands.

Denis MacShane: The British Government have held no recent meetings with Argentina about the future status of the islands. We remain committed to the Falkland islanders' right to determine their own future and will not consider a change in the status of the islands unless they wish it. In all our dealings with Argentina we are clear that sovereignty over the Falklands is not open to negotiation.

Falkland Islands

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Denis MacShane: The Falkland Islands are British. There will be no change in the status of the islands unless that is the wish of the islands themselves.

Falkland Islands

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the circumstances are under which an Argentine national is able to settle on the Falkland Islands.

Denis MacShane: The grant of permission to reside in the Falkland Islands is governed by the Falkland Islands' Immigration Ordinance 1999 and all persons, including British citizens, (who do not have Falkland Islands' status), require such permission to be able lawfully to reside in the Falkland Islands. The ordinance does not impose any special restrictions on the residence of Argentine citizens.

Colombia

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken to support the full implementation of the UN recommendations on human rights to the Colombian Government before the next session of the United Nations Commission for Human Rights in March; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: We have a regular, continuing dialogue with the Colombian Government about the human rights situation in Colombia, including the implementation of UN recommendations. I had comprehensive discussions about human rights during my visit to Colombia in October last year. The Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Peter Hain), plans to chair the regular NGO forum prior to the commission on Human Rights (CHR). NGOs will be invited to discuss FCO priorities, including Colombia, ahead of the CHR meeting in Geneva.
	We strongly support the work of the UN in Colombia. Since March 2000, we have already given more than 250,000 to support the work of the UN Human Rights Office (UNHRO) there, which helped the UN to open a new office in Cali at the end of last year, something which has been particularly welcomed by NGOs. I am pleased to announce today that we have committed a further 120,000 to the UNHRO in Colombia so that it can continue its good work.

Colombia

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the Government will ensure that aid provided through the recently agreed EU aid package in support of the Colombian peace process is not diverted to illegally armed people; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The UK, like other EU member states, has stressed to the European Commission in Brussels that EU technical assistance to Colombia must be transparent and be channelled where possible through reputable international and local NGOs working in Colombia. British embassy officials have made the same point to Commission representatives in Bogot. We particularly welcome the fact that the Commission has recently appointed a representative to Barrancabermeja to oversee the delivery of EU aid to the Magdalena Medio region.

Indonesia

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he is making about the reported persecution of Christians in Indonesia.

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has taken to encourage a reduction in the level of sectarian violence in Indonesia.

Ben Bradshaw: The UK's message to the Indonesian Government is clear and consistent: a long-term solution to regional conflicts can be achieved only through political negotiation and consultation with the people. Together with our European partners we are in regular, top-level dialogue with the Indonesian Government, and urge them to maintain law and order and promote reconciliation in areas of conflict. The most recent direct contact was when our charg d'affaires in Jakarta called on Manuel Kaisiepo, the Minister for Eastern Indonesia, on 29 November 2001. I myself raised the issue with Vice-President Haz during my visit to Jakarta last August.

Iraq

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the last United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq were made; and what assessment he has made of whether Iraq has acquired weapons of mass destruction.

Ben Bradshaw: The last UN inspection team left Iraq on 13 December 1998. There have been no independent weapons inspections since then.
	In the absence of any independent inspections, we cannot make any categorical assessment of current Iraqi capabilities. We do, however, judge that since 1999 Iraq has pressed ahead with its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes.

Zimbabwe

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his office last had communications with the Libyan authorities concerning the situation in Zimbabwe.

Jack Straw: My Department has not discussed the situation in Zimbabwe with the Libyan authorities.

Zimbabwe

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last spoke to the Commonwealth Secretary-General concerning the situation in Zimbabwe.

Jack Straw: I last discussed Zimbabwe with the Commonwealth Secretary General at the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting on 20 December. I expect to discuss Zimbabwe with him again in the run-up to the next CMAG meeting on 30 January.

Zimbabwe

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last spoke to the Zimbabwean High Commissioner concerning the situation in that country.

Jack Straw: I have not formally spoken to the Zimbabwean High Commissioner about the situation in his country.

Zimbabwe

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the action the (a) UK, (b) Commonwealth, (c) EU and (d) United Nations are taking to ensure free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.

Ben Bradshaw: On 11 January, the EU insisted on invitations to, and accreditation of, international election observers at least six weeks before Zimbabwe's 9 March Presidential election. We are discussing with our European Union partners and others what norms and standards to adopt for judging the electoral process in Zimbabwe.
	The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group said on 20 December 2001 that it expects Commonwealth election observers to be invited and accredited well before the election.
	On 15 January, the UN Secretary General called for free and fair elections monitored by the international community.

US/UK Agreements

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what his policy is in respect of the sharing with the US Government of intercept material obtained by GCHQ; and in what circumstances it is deemed inappropriate to share such information for reasons of national security;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the status and importance of the UK/USA Agreement 1948.

Jack Straw: It has been the long-standing practice of this and previous Governments not to comment on the detail of confidential arrangements which might exist between the UK and the US for the UK's national security.

US/UK Agreements

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many extant US/UK agreements there are the existence of which has not been made public; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: All treaties between the UK and US are published and registered with the UN Secretary General. There are however numerous other forms of agreement between the UK and the US, where there is no obligation to publish. Many of these will be in the public domain. The information needed to compile a list of these is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

China and Tibet

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the numbers of political prisoners in (a) Tibet and (b) China.

Denis MacShane: According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch there is a lack of conclusive independent information on the numbers concerned. Unofficial estimates of those imprisoned for political beliefs and activities are that they may number in the thousands, with many more in administrative detention. The detention of democracy activists and the widespread use of administrative detention are among the central concerns we raise with the Chinese authorities.

GCHQ

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is in respect of the monitoring by GCHQ of communications originating and terminating within the UK.

Jack Straw: GCHQ may monitor communications originating and terminating within the UK only in accordance with law, and in particular with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.

GCHQ

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the purpose of Morwenstow station: and how many (a) US and (b) UK personnel are based there.

Jack Straw: GCHQ Bude, previously known as the Composite Signals Organisation Station at Morwenstow, employs approximately 200 people and provides intelligence support serving the interest of the UK and its allies. It is long standing policy not to provide details about the operations carried out at Bude or to provide a detailed breakdown of staffing.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many answers to parliamentary questions have not been answered by his Department under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994.

Jack Straw: We do not keep separate records of answers that refer to the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. To answer this question would entail checking every answer from FCO Ministers since 1994, which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
	The Public Administration Committee's Fourth Report on Ministerial Accountability and Parliamentary Questions published on 10 November 1999 (HC 821) includes at Memorandum 7 a list of answers provided by the FCO during Parliamentary Session 1997 to 1998 which referred to the Code of Practice. None referred to Exemption 13 of the Code. The Committee's Fourth Report published on 13 December 2000 (HC 61) lists answers provided for the 1998 to 1999 Session. Five questions answered by the FCO refer to Exemption 13. (Memorandum 6.)
	The Committee has not yet published a report covering the 1999 to 2000 Session. Two answers from the FCO in that Session referred to Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice.

International Drug Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of developments since September in Afghanistan on the international drug trade.

Ben Bradshaw: To date, we have not detected a clear impact on the drugs trade in the UK or Europe but we continue to monitor events closely.
	We and our international partners are committed to working with the Afghanistan's Interim Administration to tackle drugs cultivation in Afghanistan. We welcome the Chairman of the Interim Administration's edict banning involvement in the drugs trade. Drug control is an important aspect of reconstruction in Afghanistan.

Intelligence Sharing

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what circumstances material obtained by interception (a) by the UK Government about foreign nationals is passed to the domestic authorities of those foreign nationals and (b) by foreign Governments about UK citizens is passed to the UK authorities.

Jack Straw: It has long been the policy of this and previous Governments not to comment on intelligence- related arrangements that might exist between the UK and other countries. If any material were identified under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, its dissemination would be strictly controlled by the conditions set out in section 15 of the Act.

Mrs. Blair

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions his Department has provided support for Mrs. Blair during the Prime Minister's official visits abroad in the periods (a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999, (c) May 1999 to April 2000, (d) May 2000 to April 2001 and (e) since May 2001.

Denis MacShane: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, and British embassies and High Commissions around the world, have assisted No. 10 in arranging official programmes for Mrs. Blair whenever she has accompanied the Prime Minister on his official visits overseas. This is in accordance with the Cabinet Office Ministerial Code of July 1997. Mrs. Blair has accompanied the Prime Minister on the following number of occasions:
	(a) May 1997 to April 1998: 5
	(b) May 1998 to April 1999: 3
	(c) May 1999 to April 2000: 5
	(d) May 2000 to April 2001: 3
	(e) Since May 2001: 3.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Jack Straw: The following equipment has been stolen from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK since 1 May 1997:
	
		
			  Items stolen Value () 
		
		
			 4 June 1997 Laser jet and monitor screen 600 
			 16 June 1997 Computer CPU 750 
			 16 June 1997 Answerphone 100 
			 27 October 1997 Laptop 2,000 
			
			 27 May 1998 Video player 150 
			 3 July 1998 CD rom player 150 
			 12 November 1998 Computer mouse 30 
			 4 August 1998 Cannon colour printer 140 
			 6 January 1999 Socket mother board  
			  Intel processor  
			  Hard disk300  
			  Video card  
			  Internal Modem Card  
			 13 May 1999 Laptop 2,000 
			 3 September 1999 Laptop 2,000 
			 4 October 1999 Answerphone 100 
			
			 10 January 2000 Hard disks on 2 computer stations 400 
			 21 January 2000 Hard drives  
			  Ram and CPU900  
			  Processors on 2 computers  
			 28 March 2000 Computer components 500 
			 15 April 2000 Laptop 2,000 
			 17 April 2000 Ram and processors 300 
			 26 April 2000 Ram and processors 300 
			 4 May 2000 Ram and processors 300 
			 4 December 2000 Palm pilot computer 500 
			
			 28 February 2001 Computer and hardware digital  
			  Camera CDRW1,200  
			  Drives Firecrest PC  
			  External CD Rom for laptop  
			 27 February 2001 Laptop Toshiba 2,000 
			 Unknown Scanner 300 
			 16 March 2001 Laptop 2,000 
			 11 April 2001 Minidisc player 200 
			 10 April 2001 Telephone 80 
			 13 March 2001 Shortwave radio 200 
			 22 May 2001 Boxed PC including monitor/keyboard 1,200 
			 17 August 2001 Flat screen monitor 450 
			 29 October 2001 Laptop 2,000 
			
			 10 January 2002 7x17 monitors 1,400

Subcontinent

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the military situation (a) between India and Pakistan and (b) over Kashmir.

Ben Bradshaw: We remain concerned by the continuing military and political tensions between India and Pakistan. We hope that India and Pakistan will continue to seek ways to return to dialogue to resolve all the issues between them. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has kept in close contact over the past month with his Indian and Pakistani counterparts, and with other key interlocutors.

Interception of Communications

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2001, Official Report, column 368W, on interception of communications, by what means a statement to the House would be made.

Tony Blair: I am replying to this question as it relates to matters for which I am responsible.
	Should circumstances arise in which a statement of the kind mentioned in my earlier reply needs to be made, I would then consider the appropriate form.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will provide a substantive reply to the letters of 6 July and 18 October from the hon. Member for Billericay regarding the dumping of toxic ash at Pitsea Tip.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 6 November 2001
	My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment responded to the letters from the hon. Member on 15 January 2002.

Correspondence

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letter of 9 August from the hon. Member for North Shropshire concerning delays in testing for bovine TB in the Market Drayton area of Shropshire.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 6 November 2001
	A response to the hon. Member's letter was sent on 15 January 2002. I apologise for the time taken to respond to this letter.

Correspondence

Marion Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when the hon. Member for Broxbourne will receive a reply to her letters of 31 July, 29 August, 26 September, 25 October and 22 November to the Minister for the Environment relating to correspondence from Hertfordshire county council;
	(2)  when the hon. Member for Broxbourne will receive a reply to her letters to the Minister for the Environment of 31 July, 29 August, 26 September, 25 October, 22 November and 18 December relating to correspondence from Hertfordshire county council.

Elliot Morley: The hon. Member's letter of 31 July and subsequent follow up letters have been transferred to the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions as flood damage to highways is their area of responsibility.

Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2002, ref. 26357, if she will make a statement on the reasons for the delay in responding to the letter to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford sent to him via the Foreign Office on 12 June 2001 re Dr. Reza Hussain.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 21 January 2002
	A response to the hon. Member's constituent's letter of 12 June was sent on 18 January 2002.

Recycling

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of her Department's stationery is recycled.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 16 November 2001
	The percentage of recycled stationery used by the Department is 48 per cent. for paper based products and 23 per cent. for general stationery products. There is an on-going programme of working with our users and suppliers to replace products with suitable and affordable recycled alternatives from sustainable sources. The Department expects to improve significantly its percentages of recycled stationery over the next six months.

Nuclear Reprocessing

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will establish an assessment, in respect of its relevance to environmental protection policy, of the report published on 23 November by the European Parliament's Scientific and Technological Options Assessment Programme on the possible toxic effects from the nuclear reprocessing plants at Sellafield and Cap de la Hague, France.

Michael Meacher: This report is a public document which has already been the subject of independent evaluation by experts appointed by the STOA panel. The contents of the report and these evaluations have been noted, as have the doubts about the report's objectivity which have been raised by some members of the European Parliament and two of the three independent assessors. The Environment Agency which advises the Government on the disposal of radioactive waste into the environment, has been provided with a copy of the report.

Combined Heat and Power

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to place an obligation on suppliers to purchase from CHP units.

Michael Meacher: Government have secured powers under the Utilities Act 2000 to introduce an obligation on suppliers to purchase electricity generated by CHP.
	The Government hope that other measures to be outlined in the draft CHP strategy currently being finalised for consultation will be sufficient for CHP to compete effectively with other forms of electricity generation. If however it becomes clear that CHP is not able to compete effectively, the Government are prepared to examine the case for introducing a CHP Obligation.

Foot and Mouth

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her calculation is of the percentage of animal sales made during the foot and mouth disease epidemic that were conducted outside traditional markets on (a) video links, (b) via the internet and (c) by other means; and if she will make a statement on the (i) safety and (ii) cost of these methods.

Elliot Morley: The closure of livestock markets to prevent the spread of foot and mouth has led producers to develop a number of other means of selling their stock; we do not have information on the number of animals sold in this way. All animal sales are required to meet movement licence conditions, including bio-security requirements.

Foot and Mouth

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what was the total expenditure on (a) compensation, (b) Civil Service costs, (c) decontamination, (d) additional rural aid and (e) payments to vets, slaughterers and valuers arising from the foot and mouth disease epidemic.

Elliot Morley: The total estimated expenditure arising out of foot and mouth disease is as follows:
	(a) compensation for animals slaughtered and for seized and destroyed items is 1,114,200,000;
	(b) total Civil Service costs are not yet available;
	(c) costs for cleansing and disinfection are 280,000,000;
	(d) additional rural payments are not yet available; and
	(e) total costs for vets, slaughterers and valuers is 72,100,000.

Foot and Mouth

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when blood tests for foot and mouth disease will be completed; and what the timetable is for blood tests relating to foot and mouth disease.

Elliot Morley: The blood testing necessary to classify each county in Great Britain as free of foot and mouth disease (FMD) is now complete. Pre-movement blood testing of sheep flocks is also no longer required. Blood testing is still required where a farmer re-stocks with sheep, goats, or camelids following an outbreak. It is expected that most blood testing for re-stocking purposes will be complete by early summer.
	Blood samples are sent from the local Animal Health Office by courier to the laboratory to arrive within 24 hours of the sample being taken. The laboratories have a target turn-round time for FMD blood tests of seven days and currently the mean turn-round time is three days. Results from the laboratories are then made available by computer to the local Animal Health Office.

Foot and Mouth

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what forms of testing are carried out by her Department in relation to foot and mouth disease.

Elliot Morley: Tests for the detection of foot and mouth disease virus and antibody are performed according to the protocols described in the chapter on foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the OIE Manual of Standards for Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines (2000) which was written by staff at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH), Pirbright. These tests were performed at IAH, Pirbright and five other laboratories on behalf of DEFRA. In addition, one of the antibody detection ELISA tests was improved. This test was validated and the data have been submitted to OIE for their approval as a prescribed test.

Foot and Mouth

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department is taking to validate (a) alternative and (b) complementary testing procedures where positive foot and mouth disease cases are confirmed.

Elliot Morley: DEFRA supports a programme of applied research and test development at IAH, Pirbright. A priority is the development of more rapid and reliable diagnostic tests for use in the laboratory and in the field. Another priority is to develop better methods for identifying infection among vaccinated animals so that vaccinated animals could be safely kept alive. All such tests must be properly validated to ensure international acceptance.

Foot and Mouth

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the remaining movement restrictions on livestock farms in Worcestershire, imposed as a result of the foot and mouth epidemic will be lifted.

Elliot Morley: There are 15 farms in Worcestershire currently under restrictions. It is anticipated that it should be possible to lift all these restrictions by 23 April unless there is any change to the current disease situation.

Flood Warning Notices

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many flood warning notices were sent by the Environment Agency by (a) county and (b) constituency in England and Wales in 2001.

Elliot Morley: Flood defence is a fully devolved function and DEFRA has policy responsibility only for England. Figures are not available at county and constituency level. The table therefore shows total flood warnings issued by Environment Agency in 2001 in England by region:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 North East 61 
			 North West 127 
			 Midlands 363 
			 South West 520 
			 Thames 815 
			 Southern 774 
			 Anglian 684 
			  
			 Total 3,344

Biofuels

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if it is her policy to encourage the growing of crops for biofuels; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: This Department allocated support of 29 million to solid biomass crops through the Energy Crops Scheme, part of the England Rural Development Programme. We are also working with other Departments to put in place schemes with funding of 70 million which will develop markets for biomass in heat, combined heat and power and electricity generation. Following the Green Fuel Challenge my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that a new duty rate for biodiesel, set at 20p per litre below the rate for Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel, is to be introduced in Budget 2002. Any additional measures to develop biofuels from crops must be based on sound evidence and this Department has recently commissioned a six-month study, on behalf of the Government-Industry Forum on non-food uses of crops, to provide an independent, comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of the comparative energy, environmental and socio-economic costs and benefits of biodiesel production in the UK. The study will compare results with those for other relevant green fuels and relevant energy saving measures.

Farm Incomes

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what were the (a) gross and (b) net farm incomes for each of the past four years for (i) the highest earning decile and (ii) the lowest earning decile.

Elliot Morley: Income data are available only for farms with an economic size of at least eight European Size Units (ESUs), the minimum considered necessary to occupy a full time farmer. Although nearly half the farms in England fall below this 'full-time' size threshold, they account for only 2 per cent. of agricultural output.
	The information for farms above this threshold is given in the table. Data for the year 200001 will be available on 31 January 2002. The income measure Cash Income has been used for gross income.
	
		Ranges of farm incomes for full-time farms in England --  per farm
		
			  Cash income Net farm income  
			  First decile (10th percentile) Ninth decile (90th percentile)  First decile (10th percentile) Ninth decile (90th percentile) 
		
		
			 199697 5,900 110,400 -3,300 68,700 
			 199798 -100 85,700 -10,800 40,200 
			 199899 -700 78,300 -13,700 35,600 
			 19992000 0 69,400 -13,900 32,600 
		
	
	Source:
	Farm Business Survey

Remuneration

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the number of individuals in her (a) Department, (b) related agencies and (c) related non-departmental public bodies whose annual remuneration including benefits in kind exceeded (i) 100,000 and (ii) 200,000 in each of the last four years.

Elliot Morley: As DEFRA was created on 8 June 2001, the historical information requested is not available. However, the numbers for the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) are as follows:
	(a) In the Department:
	(i) annual remuneration exceeding 100,000 including benefits (basic salary plus any allowances and bonuses):
	1 April 1998: 1
	1 April 1999: 1
	1 April 2000: 1
	1 April 2001: 4
	(ii) annual remuneration exceeding 200,000 including benefits:
	1 April 1998: 0
	1 April 1999: 0
	1 April 2000: 0
	1 April 2001: 0
	(b) In related agencies:
	(i) and (ii): none in any year
	(c) the information is available in the annual Cabinet Office publication Public Bodies (as referred to in the central answer provided by the Minister for the Cabinet Office).

Arable Area Payments

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers, by region, have arable area payment claims outstanding.

Elliot Morley: The regulatory deadline for payment of main scheme claims under the 2001 Arable Area Payments Scheme is 31 January 2002. As at 13 January 2002, 33,830 claims (79.15 per cent.) had been passed for payment. Payments of claims is no longer organised on a regional basis, as in previous years. The number of claims unpaid by processing centre is, however, as follows:
	
		
			 RPA processing site Unpaid claims 
		
		
			 Cambridge 987 
			 Carlisle 688 
			 Crewe 335 
			 Exeter 3,469 
			 Newcastle 221 
			 Northallerton 1,895 
			 Nottingham 1,098 
			 Reading 219 
			  
			 Total 8,912

Agricultural Bureaucracy

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many transactions by correspondence, telephone or e-mail take place on average each year between her Department and farmers subject to each (a) quota, (b) headage payment and (c) area payment.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 January 2002
	The information is not available and records held by the Department are not sufficiently detailed to enable it to be extracted. The total number of letters received by the Department from farmers in the categories mentioned in the financial years 19992000 and 200001 were 32,812 and 34,051 respectively. This excludes claim forms and any covering communications which did not call for a response.
	The numbers of claims, payments and quota registrations for the two years were:
	
		
			   19992000  200001  
			  Claims Payments Claims Payments 
		
		
			 Headage based schemes 181,285 545,336 320,271 794,527 
			 Area based schemes 73,447 (38)119,159 72,700 (39)91,155 
			 Quota transactions 18,900 18,920  
		
	
	(38) For 19992000 this includes advance payments for oilseeds and separate payments for non food set-aside.
	(39) For 200001 this includes separate payments for non food set- aside.

Agricultural Subsidies

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what area payments are available to producers of (a) maize, (b) wheat, (c) barley, (d) oats, (e) sugar beet and (f) other crops; what is the value of each payment (i) in aggregate and (ii) by volume or area; and what are the conditions upon which payments depend.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 11 January 2002
	Payments are available to producers under the Arable Area Payments Scheme for crops of Cereals (which include barley, oats and maize), Proteins, Linseed, Rapeseed, Flax, Hemp and Set-aside. Sugar Beet can only be claimed under this scheme for non-food use. It does not attract a payment but may be counted towards a producer's set-aside requirement.
	The payment rates for crops claimed in England in 2001 per hectare are 225.6466 for Cereals and set-aside, 264.3094 for Oilseeds, 259.6757 for Proteins and 270.8829 for Linseed, Fibre Flax and Hemp. There is a further supplement to the basic rate available for Durum Wheat of 84.4647.
	In 2000, the total value of payments made with respect to English applications was as follows:
	
		 
		
			  Basic payment Agri-monetary compensation 
		
		
			 Maize 4,340,419 145,988 
			 Cereals (excluding maize) 583,020,470 19,757,296 
			 Oilseeds 88,204,626 2,984,108 
			 Proteins 53,881,564 1,824,176 
			 Linseed 22,363,270 782,726 
			 Durum Wheat Supplement 1,240,699 12,450 
			 Set-aside 100,965,458 3,456,446 
			  
			 Total 854,016,506 28,963,190 
		
	
	The Arable Area Payments Scheme (AAPS) offers payments per hectare to growers of the crops already mentioned. There are a number of conditions that land and crops being claimed must meet, the main ones being as follows. Eligibility of land for AAPS is as a general rule effectively restricted to land that was in arable rotation on 31 December 1991. In order to qualify for full payment, all producers claiming more than 15.62 ha must set-aside a certain percentage of their claimed eligible land. All crops claimed under this scheme must be shown and maintained in line with local standards and must be maintained until specified dates. Details of the scheme requirements are published annually in literature available to claimants.

IACS Payments

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects payment of arable area IACS for the past year to be completed.

Elliot Morley: Industrial action, which has been delaying the processing of arable aid (AAPS) claims, was suspended by the trade unions with effect from 11 January. This allowed the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to step up the amount of overtime being worked beginning in the weekend of 1213 January. Overtime working will now continue, as long as the suspension remains in place, until the backlog of claim processing is cleared. The RPA expects to be able to pay the vast majority of AAPS claims within the regulatory timeframe which ends on 31 January. However, because of the processing time which has already been lost, it is likely that more claims than usual will be carried over into February. Every effort will be made to keep this to the absolute minimum. As at 13 January 80 per cent. of AAPS claims had been passed for payment.

IACS Payments

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the average proportion of an arable farmer's income that is made up by an IACS payment at the latest date for which figures are available.

Elliot Morley: Information on total farm output (including direct subsidies), total input costs, and net farm income for full-time arable farms in England is given in the table. The data relate to 19992000. In this year, the average subsidy exceeded the average income.
	Data for 200001 will be available on 31 January.
	
		Average output (including subsidies), input and income for full-time arable farms in England (19992000)
		
			  General cropping farms Cereals farms 
		
		
			 Total farm output ( per farm) 207,200 123,900 
			 of which:   
			 Direct crop subsidies ( per farm) 28,800 34,200 
			 Direct livestock subsidies ( per farm) 2,400 2,300 
			 Direct general subsidies ( per farm) 600 1,200 
			 Direct crop subsidies (as a percentage of output) 13.9 27.6 
			 Direct livestock subsidies (as a percentage of output) 1.2 1.9 
			 Direct general subsidies (as a percentage of output) 0.3 1.0 
			 Total input (costs) ( per farm) 199,100 112,200 
			 Net farm income () 8,100 11,700

IACS Payments

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of arable area IACS payments were made to farmers by (a) 1 January 2001 for the preceding year and (b) 1 January 2002 for this past year.

Elliot Morley: By 30 December 2001, 29,075 IACS payments (68.03 per cent.) had been passed for payment, with a value of 495,577,987.14. The figures at the same stage last year was 39,516 (90 per cent.) with a value of 725,996,684.

Fish Stocks

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when, at the rate of depletion in 2000, stocks of (a) cod, (b) herring, (c) mackerel and (d) plaice will be fished out in (i) UK and (ii) EU waters; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: It is not possible or meaningful to answer the question in the terms asked. Stock levels in future years will depend, in part, on the abundance of future broods of young fish not yet spawned. Also, the stocks are subject to a range of management measures aimed at restoring them, although the outcome of these measures cannot be precisely predicted at present, the assumption underlying the question that these measures will have no effect is not a reasonable hypothesis.
	Rather than the rate of depletion of stocks, the indicators used for the state of fish stocks are, for each stock, the spawning stock biomass and the level of fishing mortality. Where these indicators fall below the precautionary benchmarks established by scientists, the scientific advice is that action should be taken to raise them to within safe biological limits. The recovery plans already in place for northern hake and for cod in the North sea, Irish sea and west of Scotland and now proposed by the commission for further stocks, together with the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers to set TACs and quotas for 2002 in line with scientific advice, are aimed at reversing decline in fish stocks where it is occurring and is of concern, rather than allowing it to continue.

Goats

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if goats are to be included with sheep with respect to BSE testing; and what her policy is on the destruction of the national goat herd if BSE is found to be present in sheep.

Elliot Morley: Goats are included in the testing programme for TSEs which we are putting in place to meet the requirements of EU legislation. If BSE were to be found in the sheep flock, the implications for goats would need to be determined in the light of circumstances at the time, taking into account in particular the views of the Food Standards Agency and the scientific advice offered by the EU's Scientific Steering Committee and by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee.

Goats

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what reasons lie behind the recent changes to the regulations for the transportation of goats for mating.

Elliot Morley: The movement of animals has been restricted as part of the measures to control the spread of foot and mouth disease. The most recent change to the animal movements licensing scheme affecting goats was introduced on 18 December 2001. From this date, goats were allowed to move freely between At Risk Counties provided an inspection by a Local Veterinary Inspector proved satisfactory. As of 15 January 2002, there are no At Risk Counties in Great Britain. There have been no recent changes to the rules regarding the movement of billy goats for breeding purposes.

Bovine TB

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in which areas the culling of badgers as part of the Krebs trial has restarted; how many badgers have been culled; and what the estimated cost of the trial is.

Elliot Morley: The badger field trial was suspended in February last year because of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. Badger culling has not yet recommenced but surveying operations have restarted in all trial areas. Up to the time that the trial was suspended, 2,913 badgers had been culled. The overall cost of the trial has been estimated to be approximately 35 million.

Bovine TB

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle have been culled since 1995 due to being infected with bovine TB, broken down by year and county.

Elliot Morley: The table shows the number of animals slaughtered because they reacted to the tuberculin test broken down by county for England, Scotland and Wales for the years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,2000 and 2001. A figure by county is not available for Northern Ireland and the relevant figures for each year are shown.
	All figures are produced from the State Veterinary Service IT support system. The figure for 1995 is unvalidated raw data. The use of the system for management reporting only began late in 1995 and it is not now possible to validate this data. For the years 1996, 1997 and 1998 the table shows validated agreed data. Statistics meeting 'national statistics' criteria have been used for 1999 and 2000 but the data are yet to be validated and these are therefore provisional. For 2001 the data are provisional and unvalidated as laboratory results are awaited.
	
		Number of Reactor Cattle Slaughtered for TB in UK
		
			  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999(40) 2000(40) 2001(40),(41) 
		
		
			 England 2,211 2,393 2,730 4,120 4,945 5,987 3,558 
			 Avon 153 211 69 159 138 262 122 
			 Bedfordshire 1 3 3   1 1 
			 Berkshire 5 6  4 2  1 
			 Buckinghamshire 2 3  7 7 8 4 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 31  
			 Cheshire 36 21 9 43 7 5  
			 Cleveland   2 2
			 Cornwall 623 462 292 789 840 1,106 633 
			 Cumberia 5 8 21 10 7 4 2 
			 Derbyshire 14 17 47 50 241 58 43 
			 Devon 294 465 440 492 790 1,105 538 
			 Dorset 54 43 103 91 99 78 58 
			 Durham 8  1  2   
			 East Sussex 17 9 31 14 18 23 6 
			 Essex 2 1 13 5
			 Gloucestershire 378 275 490 796 848 1,046 570 
			 Greater London1
			 Greater Manchester 3 1 1 9 1   
			 Hampshire  2 1 1 1 4 2 
			 Hereford and Worcestershire 306 462 556 769 795 957 618 
			 Hertford 5   13  1  
			 Humberside 2  6 1 1 5 4 
			 Isle of Wight 1   
			 Isles of Scilly
			 Kent 3   
			 Lancashire 9 7 8 67 5 6  
			 Leicestershire 11 13 4 2 4 2 2 
			 Lincolnshire 10 11 2 1 15 3  
			 Merseyside  1  
			 Norfolk 4   
			 North Yorkshire 2  1  2 1 1 
			 Northamptonshire 7 4  2 1 5 3 
			 Northumberland 19 16 6 8 11 9 38 
			 Nottinghamshire 9 2 4 14 1 8 11 
			 Oxfordshire 2 1 3 13 8 3 24 
			 Shropshire 6 12 24 39 34 194 101 
			 Somerset 115 129 179 236 322 460 116 
			 South Yorkshire1  2  
			 Staffordshire 8 112 183 233 334 192 416 
			 Suffolk
			 Surrey 2 2   2  1 
			 Tyne and Wear   1 1
			 Warwickshire 1 3  3 8 7 1 
			 West Midlands  1  3 1   
			 West Sussex 2 4   1 1  
			 West Yorkshire  3  5
			 Wiltshire 92 80 230 236 398 430 242 
			 Wales 289 644 374 765 914 986 1,467 
			 Clwyd  1 4 2 6 2 3 
			 Dyfed 125 252 181 406 491 478 1,044 
			 Gwent 127 338 171 226 274 346 222 
			 Gwynedd 6 13  26 2   
			 Mid Glamorgan  2 5 4 3 4 1 
			 Powys 30 23 6 56 65 133 163 
			 South Glamorgan 1 2 1 5   2 
			 West Glamorgan  13 6 40 73 43 32 
			 Scotland 56 95 109 73 51 58 23 
			 Aberdeenshire 5 5 15 24 5 21 4 
			 Angus 2 1 1  2  1 
			 Argyll 1 1 31 
			 Ayrshire 3 7 1 1  4 2 
			 Banffshire 1 2 9 2  2 1 
			 Berwickshire 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 
			 Bute  38  
			 Caithness 2 1 8 3  2  
			 Clackmannan
			 Dumbartonshire   17 
			 Dumfriesshire 6 1 2 7 12 4  
			 East Lothian  2 12 
			 Fife  8 2 1   2 
			 Inverness-shire 1 1 2  4 5 1 
			 Kincardine 4  1 5 1 1  
			 Kinross  1 2 
			 Kirkcudbright 8 11 8  2 4 2 
			 Lanarkshire 1 1 14 4 3 1  
			 Midlothian and Edinburgh   1 1  1  
			 Moray  1 1 
			 Orkney 13   
			 Peebles 9   1  2  
			 Perthshire 2 2 7  4 3 2 
			 Renfrew   2 1
			 Ross and Cromarty 2 3 1 3 2   
			 Roxburgh   2 2 11 1  
			 Selkirk
			 Shetland1
			 Stirling1  1 4 
			 Sutherland
			 West Lothian1
			 Wigtown 7 8 7 14 1 5  
			 GB Total 2,556 3,132 3,213 4,958 5,910 7,031 5,048 
			 Northern Ireland 3,680 3,615 4,923 6,247 8,814 9,109 8,817 
		
	
	(40) The figures for 1999, 2000 and 2001 are provisional.
	(41) Due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease testing has been greatly reduced. In addition a number of cases await laboratory results.

Bovine TB

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of bovine TB there have been in the United Kingdom since 1995, broken down by year and county.

Elliot Morley: The table shows the number of herds affected by new confirmed incidents of bovine TB broken down by country for England, Scotland and Wales for the years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. A figure by county is not available for Northern Ireland and the relevant figures for each year are shown.
	A new herd incident occurs when a herd which was previously TB free either had cattle that reacted to a tuberculin test or had a tuberculous animal disclosed by routine inspection at slaughter. This becomes a confirmed incident where at least one animal is subsequently confirmed as having bovine TB either through laboratory result and/or evidence at slaughter.
	The figures for Northern Ireland relate to new herd incidents only.
	All figures are produced from the state veterinary service IT support system. The figure for 1995 is unvalidated raw data. The use of the system for management reporting only began late in 1995 and it is not now possible to validate this data. For the years 1996, 1997 and 1998 the table shows validated agreed data. Statistics meeting 'national statistics' criteria have been used for 1999 and 2000 but the data are yet to be validated and these are therefore provisional. For 2001 the date are provisional and unvalidated as laboratory results are awaited.
	
		New confirmed TB herd incidents by county for UK
		
			  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999(42) 2000(42) 2001(42),(43) 
		
		
			 England 327 339 440 631 741 885 300 
			 Avon 21 19 13 23 22 32 12 
			 Bedfordshire
			 Berkshire
			 Buckinghamshire 1 2  
			 Cambridgeshire  1  
			 Cheshire 2   2 2 3  
			 Cleveland
			 Cornwall 82 84 68 132 125 157 47 
			 Cumbria 11 1  
			 Derbyshire 1 3  7 19 10 7 
			 Devon 62 68 87 100 134 182 68 
			 Dorset 5 6 15 8 20 10 8 
			 Durham
			 East Sussex 2 1 4 1 5 2 1 
			 Essex 1  1 
			 Gloucestershire 61 56 90 130 133 171 32 
			 Greater London
			 Greater Manchester
			 Hampshire
			 Hereford and Worcestershire 37 59 79 111 128 145 52 
			 Hertford1
			 Humberside
			 Isle of Wight 1   
			 Isles of Scilly
			 Kent
			 Lancashire3
			 Leicestershire  1  
			 Lincolnshire 1   1
			 Merseyside
			 Norfolk 1   
			 North Yorkshire 1   
			 Northamptonshire 2 11  
			 Northumberland 2 1  2 1 2 1 
			 Nottinghamshire1  1  
			 Oxfordshire3 1 2  
			 Shropshire 1 1 5 3 2 18 8 
			 Somerset 15 14 25 36 42 62 14 
			 South Yorkshire  1  
			 Staffordshire 3 9 24 34 36 27 36 
			 Suffolk
			 Surrey
			 Tyne and Wear
			 Warwickshire  1  1  1 1 
			 West Midlands 1   
			 West Sussex 1   
			 West Yorkshire  1  1
			 Wiltshire 26 14 29 31 66 54 13 
			 Wales 69 110 55 86 127 150 104 
			 Clwyd 1  1 
			 Dyfed 28 32 22 49 60 68 67 
			 Gwent 32 60 27 24 36 48 15 
			 Gwynedd 1 2  1 1   
			 Mid Glamorgan  1 2 1 1 1  
			 Powys 8 12 2 6 13 26 17 
			 South Glamorgan1
			 West Glamorgan  3 2 4 15 7 4 
			 
			 Scotland 8 10 8 3 7 4 1 
			 Aberdeenshire 2 2 3  2 3  
			 Angus 1   
			 Argyll
			 Ayrshire 1 3  1  1  
			 Banffshire
			 Berwickshire 1   
			 Bute  2  
			 Caithness   2 
			 Clackmannan
			 Dumbartonshire  1  
			 Dumfriesshire 21   
			 East Lothian   1 
			 Fife
			 Inverness-shire
			 Kincardine1
			 Kinross
			 Kirkcudbright 1 1   1   
			 Lanarkshire   1 
			 Midlothian and Edinburgh
			 Moray
			 Nairn
			 Orkney 1   
			 Peebles 1   
			 Perthshire   1  1   
			 Renfrew
			 Ross and Cromarty
			 Roxburgh
			 Selkirk
			 Shetland
			 Stirling
			 Sutherland
			 West Lothian
			 Wigtown  2  1
			 GB Total 404 459 503 720 875 1,039 405 
			 Northern Ireland(44) 1,742 1,505 1,486 2,069 2,713 2,872 2,479 
			 UK Total 2,146 1,964 1,989 2,769 3,588 3,911 2,884 
		
	
	(42) The figures for 1999, 2000 and 2001 are provisional.
	(43) Due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease testing has been greatly reduced. In addition a number of cases await laboratory results.
	(44) Figures relate to new herd incidents only, and include all those that were subsequently confirmed.

Bovine TB

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many badgers have been culled as part of the Krebs trial to date, broken down by year and county.

Elliot Morley: The number of badgers culled as part of the Krebs trial to date, broken down by year and county, is as follows:
	
		
			 County 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total 
		
		
			 Somerset 0 0 100 0 0 100 
			 Wiltshire 0 0 602 142 0 744 
			 Herefordshire 0 0 55 0 0 55 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 34 0 0 34 
			 Devon 238 158 147 23 0 566 
			 Cornwall 0 246 629 111 0 986 
			 Staffordshire 0 0 428 0 0 428 
			  
			 Total 238 404 1,995 276 0 2,913

Departmental Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will commission and publish an independent report on the reasons for the level of sickness absence in her Department.

Elliot Morley: The Department does not intend to commission and publish an independent report on the reasons for the level of its sickness absence, but it is planning to carry out its own analysis.
	A comprehensive analysis of sickness absence in the civil service is produced annually by Cabinet Office. Copies of such reports are placed in the Library of the House.
	Responsibility for attendance matters within the Central Science Laboratory, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Agencyall former MAFF agencieshas been delegated to the agency chief executives and I have asked them to reply direct. The Pesticides Safety Directorate, the Rural Payments Agency and the veterinary medicines directorate agencies are covered by the departmental response.

Illegal Meat Imports

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the steps that have been taken to control illegal meat imports arriving in the UK via Heathrow airport.

Elliot Morley: Since April last year we have taken a range of initiatives aimed at improving our ability to prevent and detect illegal imports of animal products. These initiatives have been co-ordinated by officials in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, but involve other Departments such as HM Customs and Excise and the Food Standards Agency, and the local authorities who are responsible for controls at ports and airports.
	Checks on imports of animal products at Heathrow airport are primarily the responsibility of Hillingdon borough council. We have regular discussions with council officers about import controls. In addition customs officers and immigration officers are alert to the need to be vigilant to illegal imports of animal products carried in passenger baggage. Local authority officers, customs officers and state veterinary service officers at the airport liaise in organising checks of passenger baggage for illegal animal products.
	Posters have been placed at Heathrow and other airports alerting individuals to what products they may bring in. These are now being improved in the light of experience and discussion has taken place with the airport authority to ensure that posters are sited as effectively as possible.

Tenant Farmers

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to meet the Tenant Farmers Association; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister for Rural Affairs, and my noble Friend Lord Whitty, have all met representatives of the Tenant Farmers Association over the last six months. I can assure the hon. Member that the close contact DEFRA has established with the tenanted sector will be maintained. Further, my noble Friend Lord Whitty has agreed to meet with the Tenant Farmers Association when the outcome of the review of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 is known.

Tenant Farmers

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make an assessment of the issues facing tenant farmers; and what action she will take to improve their situation.

Elliot Morley: The Policy Commission on Food and Farming has been established to look at all aspects of the farming industry. DEFRA has been sent a copy of the detailed submission the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has made to the commission and departmental officials have met with the TFA to discuss the issues raised. DEFRA has also commissioned a review of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995. This is being conducted by Plymouth university and their draft report should be available to the Department by the end of January.
	It is not possible to say what if any specific action will be taken in relation to tenant farming issues before the results of this study and the Policy Commission's recommendations are known. However the Government are committed to the establishment of a sustainable, diverse, modern and adaptable farming industry.

Tenant Farmers

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from the Tenant Farmers Association concerning (a) an early retirement and young entrant scheme into the farming industry, (b) her Department's free business advice to all farmers, (c) farm diversification through best practice guides and (d) 50 per cent. rate relief for five years for new non-agricultural enterprises on farms.

Elliot Morley: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met representatives of the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) on 30 October, as did my noble Friend Lord Whitty on 16 July and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Rural Affairs on 21 November. The key topics discussed at these meetings were an early retirement scheme, access by tenant farmers to agri- environment and other schemes under the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy, and the scope for diversification by tenant farmers under existing tenancy legislation. There has, in addition, been correspondence between my officials and the TFA on the free business advice service provided to farmers.

Fur Farming

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  for what reasons the Fur Farming (Compensation Scheme) (England) Order 2001 (SI 2001, No 3853) does not make provision for (a) the value of male animals and (b) the differential value of different breed of mink;
	(2)  for what reasons the Fur Farming (Compensation Scheme) (England) Order 2001 (SI 2001, No 3853) reduces the compensation payable for the value of breeding stock where (a) the farmer elected to cease keeping mink after 1 October 2001 and (b) the farmer elected to cease keeping mink nine months before the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 comes into force.

Elliot Morley: Under section 5(1) of the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000, fur farmers are able to close down at any time between enactment on 23 November 2000 and the coming into force of the ban on 1 January 2003, without affecting their eligibility for compensation. This winding-down period of more than two years allows each fur farmer to choose the best time when to close in order to mitigate any losses, including on breeding and young stock.
	Those fur farmers who choose to close at a later date will derive greater returns for each breeding animal from the market, thus reducing the residual breeding value, and hence the level of compensation. Any differential in the value of different breeds of mink will be reflected in the profitability of the enterprise for which compensation is being provided.

Fur Farming

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the Fur Farming (Compensation Scheme) (England) Order 2001 (SI 2001, No. 3853) specifies (a) a fixed sum for the value of breeding stock, and (b) a fixed multiplier to determine qualifying income losses; and for what reason there is no appeal under the terms of the order to (a) arbitration and (b) to the Lands Tribunal.

Elliot Morley: Under Section 5(1) of the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is required to make a compensation scheme. Due consideration was given to all relevant factors in producing such a scheme. It was not considered appropriate for the Government to leave the determination of the value of breeding stock and the income multiplier to an arbitrator or the Lands Tribunal, if they were to meet their obligation to make a scheme that is fair and reasonable. The calculation of average net trading profits could, however, be referred to an arbitrator or the Lands Tribunal.

Air Pollution

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days of (a) moderate, (b) high and (c) very high air pollution there were (i) in the United Kingdom and (ii) in Buckinghamshire in each year since 1997; and if she will indicate the suspected causes of high and very high readings.

Michael Meacher: DEFRA operate a National Automatic Urban and Rural Network that currently includes about 120 sites throughout the UK. Data are produced continuously on an hourly basis. Ratified data are available up to 30 September 2001. After this date care must be taken in interpretation of the pollution levels recorded since high measurements may be the result of instrument error that is still to be identified.
	An analysis of moderate, high or very high pollution during 19972001 has been undertaken to identify the number and severity of such incidents. Pollution at each site is defined according to the pollutant that is in the highest band during the day. The numbers of days in each band for each pollutant in the United Kingdom since 1997 are given in the table.
	There are no National Automatic Urban and Rural Network monitoring sites in Buckinghamshire.
	
		Number of days of moderate, high and very high air pollution in the United Kingdom (at one or more sites) in each year since 1997
		
			  Moderate High Very high 
		
		
			 1997 269 70 14 
			 1998 259 49 12 
			 1999 269 51 15 
			 2000 240 38 7 
			 2001 250 69 19 
		
	
	High air pollution episodes due to ozone are only recorded in the summer months. The pollution is linked to hot sunny weather when industrial and motor vehicle emissions react under these conditions to form ground- level ozone. Light easterly winds sometimes bring this pollution across to the UK from central Europe. If conditions are very still for several days then high pollution can be generated by pollution emissions from the UK only.
	High air pollution episodes due to sulphur dioxide are either due to emissions from domestic heating systems (coal or oil), or from industrial processes. The former episodes are measured during the winter in urban areas with significant use of these fuel types. Industrial related incidents can be many miles away from the source of the pollution when the plume from the process comes to ground.
	High air pollution episodes due to nitrogen dioxide are related to motor vehicle emissions and, although infrequent, are usually during very cold, still conditions in the winter months.
	High or very high particulate matter (PM 1 0 ) can be from a variety of industrial, motor vehicle, construction or natural sources such as Saharan dust, volcanic eruptions, agricultural dust or fireworks.
	There are no high or very high CO episodes.

Whaling

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the International Whaling Commission on the decision by the Japanese Government to use satellite technology to (a) track, (b) monitor and (c) capture, (i) minke, (ii) sperm and (iii) Bryde's whales.

Elliot Morley: We are raising this issue directly with the Government of Japan.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what involvement her Department has in (a) public-private partnerships and (b) private finance initiative projects.

Elliot Morley: The Department is involved in four private finance initiative projects as follows:
	1. Broadland Flood Alleviation Scheme
	2. Pevensey Bay Sea Defences
	3. Brooklands Avenue Office Development (Cambridge)
	4. Countryside Agency's Spirit (IT services).
	As yet the Department is not involved in any public- private partnerships.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years.

Elliot Morley: The Department has only been in existence since June 2001. Information covering earlier periods is therefore not available, and could be constructed retrospectively only at disproportionate cost. Annual reports which the Treasury prepares on fraud, covering returns from both the former MAFF and DETR, are deposited in the House of Commons Library.

Pesticides

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 91920W, on carbofuran chlorfenvinphos, if she will set out the measures she is taking to help the trade and user groups.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 16 January 2002
	My noble Friend Lord Whitty met representatives of the National Farmers Union and the brassica industry on 19 December to discuss the problems that would be faced by trade and user groups. My noble Friend accepts that there would be severe consequences for swede and turnip growers putting them at a serious disadvantage with European competitors. While the approval for carbofuran expired as planned on 31 December 2001, he has agreed, exceptionally, to allow the approval for chlorfenvinphos to continue until 25 July 2003, the date the use of the compound will expire throughout Europe. Action has already been taken by the Pesticide Safety Directorate to maintain the chlorfenvinphos approvals. However, industry is being urged, as a matter of urgency, to find alternatives.

Pesticides

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will ensure that the ban on the use of chlorfenvinphos and carbofuran, used in the control of cabbage root fly, comes into force at the same time as in the rest of the EU.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 17 January 2002
	Pesticide products containing chlorfenvinphos and carbofuran have been reviewed as part of the general review in the UK of all organophosphate pesticides. The review was undertaken because of public concerns about the potential toxicity of this group of chemicals. Only for chlorfenvinphos has there been strong lobbying to retain its use on swedes and turnips. The approval was due to expire on 31 December 2001 but in the light of strong representations from growers at the end of last year my noble Friend Lord Whitty agreed to extend the approval until 25 July 2003, the date when the approval will expire throughout Europe. This should allow industry time to find alternatives. Unlike chlorfenvinphos, no strong representations have been made for the approval of carbofuran to continue. This approval therefore expired as planned on 31 December.

Pesticides

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has sponsored into alternatives to chlorfenvinphos and carbofuran.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 17 January 2002
	None. DEFRA funds generic research into alternatives to conventional pesticides, for example, biological controls, but not into specific chemical alternatives which are primarily for industry to fund. I understand that the brassica industry has done some work to find alternative methods to control cabbage root fly and is being urged to continue this work.

Pesticides

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect on the competitiveness of UK vegetable growers if chlorfenvinphos and carbofuran are banned in the UK before they are banned in the rest of the EU.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 17 January 2002
	My noble Friend Lord Whitty met representatives of the National Farmers Union and the brassica industry on 19 December when the industry's assessment of the impact of the loss of these compounds was discussed.
	My noble Friend accepts that growers would be seriously disadvantaged by the loss of these compounds. He has therefore agreed, exceptionally, to allow the approval for chlorfenvinphos to continue until 25 July 2003, the date when the approval will expire throughout Europe. This should ensure that UK growers' competitiveness in Europe is maintained. However industry is being urged, as a matter of urgency, to find alternatives.

PIU Energy Review

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the PIU report will be published before the end of January.

Michael Meacher: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Ceredigion (Mr. Thomas), on 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 816W.

Fisheries Policy

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the European commission policy on administrative sanctions in enforcing fisheries policy; what assessment she has made of the compatibility of this approach with the European convention on human rights; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Under CFP regulations member states are required to ensure that appropriate measures are being taken to deal with fisheries infringements. These may take the form of criminal proceedings or administrative sanctions. The Government would need to be satisfied that any proposals for a system of administrative sanctions were compatible with the European convention on human rights. Moreover, any proposals to introduce administrative sanctions would be subject to full consultation with the fishing industry and other appropriate interests.

Recovered Vegetable Oil

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if the use of recovered vegetable oil for producing animal feed is to be banned in the UK; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what regulatory impact assessment has been carried out in respect of the EU Animal By-Products regulation;
	(3)  if she will make a statement on the impact of restrictions on the use of recovered vegetable oil upon waste disposal authorities;
	(4)  if she will make a statement on the implementation of the EU Animal By-Products regulation.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 18 January 2002
	The proposed EU Animal By-Products Regulation would ban the feeding of catering waste to livestock. This ban was introduced at a late stage in negotiations and, after political agreement to a common position had been reached, the European commission made it clear that it considered that the ban also applied to used cooking oils. The Government consider that used cooking oils can be safely used in livestock feed if they are protected from contamination by the application of HACCP (Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points) principles and appropriate quality control. If suitable alternative outlets are not in place, a ban could lead to environmental problems. The UK is therefore opposing the ban on used cooking oils which are subject to suitable controls and has been lobbying Members of the European Parliament to make suitable changes at Second Reading. The UK has also made it clear that, in the event of the ban not being reversed, an extended transitional period would be needed to allow time for alternative, sustainable outlets to be developed.
	Regulatory impact assessments were placed in the Library of the House on 27 November 2000 and 26 February 2001, along with explanatory memoranda on the regulation (reference 12646/00 and 12648/00). However, as the ban on catering waste had not then been proposed, they did not take account of the costs of such a ban. A revised regulatory impact assessment and a further supplementary explanatory memorandum are in preparation. We expect the Animal By-Products Regulation to come into force in member states towards the end of 2002. Relevant industries and other interests will be fully consulted on its implementation.

Agricultural Shows

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when she will make an announcement on the exemption of agricultural shows from the 20 day standstill period;
	(2)  when she will provide guidance to organisers of county shows on livestock movements for shows.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 18 January 2002
	On 18 December, the Government announced changes to the livestock movement controls which it intends to introduce in February 2002. It is proposed that animals may move to and from shows and from show to show without triggering a 20 day standstill provided they are individually identified and are kept in approved isolation facilities on the farm of origin before moving to and on returning from shows. The rules will reflect existing protocols and herd health rules. Officials have held detailed discussions with interested parties and written guidance will be issued by the Department as soon as possible.

Agricultural Shows

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will reply to the letter from The Surrey County Agricultural Society on the County Show in time for the show organisers to make plans for the animal show on 3 June.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 18 January 2002
	We have no record of having received the letter dated 3 June referred to by the hon. Member from The Surrey County Agricultural Society on the County Show.

Livestock Burial

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has held with other EU agriculture Ministers about on-farm burial of livestock.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 21 January 2002
	The EU Animal By-Products Regulation contains provisions which relate to the burial of livestock. A common position on the regulation was adopted at the November Agriculture Council, following political agreement at the June Agriculture Council. However, the Secretary of State did not discuss the provisions relating to burial at those Councils; discussions had already taken place at official level.

Livestock Markets

Matthew Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when livestock markets will reopen.

Elliot Morley: On 18 December, the Government announced changes to the livestock movement controls which they intended should be implemented from February 2002 provided there was continued progress in eradicating FMD. Further details will be announced shortly and we hope to have the new system in place from Monday 11 February.
	From the start of these arrangements, cattle markets will be allowed to resume, but for sheep and pigs, slaughter markets only will be allowed initially. The question of whether to allow other sheep and pig markets will be kept under review in the light of veterinary and scientific advice.
	When markets do reopen, they will be subject to strict conditions to ensure that an appropriate level of biosecurity is maintained.

Flood Defences

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she has taken (a) to replace and (b) to repair flood defences nationwide that are due to reach the end of their design life over the next decade.

Elliot Morley: I plan to reduce the risk of flooding by investing in effective flood warning arrangements and in flood and coastal defences in the highest risk areas, and existing flood defences are being repaired, renewed, maintained and improved. As the bulk of expenditure is ultimately met by taxpayers, both DEFRA and the operating authorities have a responsibility to ensure that value for money is obtained when funding works.
	This Department provides grants for flood and coastal defence capital works, and associated studies, which meet essential technical, economic and environmental criteria and achieve an appropriate priority score (based on departmental priorities, urgency and benefit:cost ratio). Further to increases in the last two Spending Reviews, additional funding of 51 million over the four years from 200102 was announced in November 2000 following the severe flooding. In all DEFRA flood and coastal defence funding is set to increase from 66 million in 200001 to 114 million in 200304. Funding for future years will be considered in the Spending Review process. Responsibility for deciding which projects to promote and their timing rests with the operating authorities. The operating authority for each area draws on its local knowledge to decide what needs to be done, including the appraisal of design standards within the economic justification of projects.

Flood Defences

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 6 December 2001, Official Report, column 496W, on flood defence, when the validation will be complete; and whether it will identify when councils completed this task.

Elliot Morley: A list of local authorities that have provided valid information on their flood defence assets to the Environment Agency has been placed in the Library of the House.
	This information was received by the agency in the period to July 2001. Where the agreed programme of inspections requires it, a second round of inspections is under way.
	The ability of some local authorities to carry out inspections, and the Environment Agency's ability to receive and assess that information, and to follow up the non-receipt of inspection reports, was severely impaired by the aftermath of the 2000 floods. I have therefore agreed that the agency should provide a fully validated report for the period to March 2002 which covers all inspections to that date, summarises the condition of defences, and sets out the agreed approach to inspections.

Flood Defences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she is making in securing adequate flood defences for Lewes.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 16 January 2002
	Operational responsibility for flood management rests with operating authorities, such as the Environment Agency. The agency has repaired defences in Lewes so that they are largely up to the standard they were before the floods in autumn 2000. The agency is also undertaking a strategic study of the River Ouse catchment with a view to identifying sustainable defence options for Lewes and other towns. I understand that the agency is keeping local interest groups informed of their consideration of defence options. This Department has provided funding for both the emergency repairs and for the strategic study.

Nuclear Accidents

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 3 December 2001, Official Report, column 96W, on nuclear accidents, what assessment has been made of the need to distribute iodine tablets to the population; and how long it will take average prevailing winds to carry fallout from France to the south coast of England.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Potassium Iodate tablets are held at or around various nuclear industry sites throughout the United Kingdom including Ministry of Defence sites as part of the detailed emergency planning arrangements in the vicinity of nuclear power plants. Other stocks are also held centrally.
	As part of the on-going contingency planning the Department is reviewing stocks and supplies of potassium iodate tablets for use in the unlikely event of a nuclear accident at a nuclear power installation either in the UK or abroad.
	Advice from the Meterological Office is that there is no average prevailing wind from France. However, depending upon the meteorological conditions at any given time, the quantity and source location of the radioactivity on the French coast and the area of the south coast in question, it may take a few hours.

LORD CHANCELLOR

MI5 Records

Norman Baker: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on his policy on the release of post-1945 MI5 records into the Public Record Office.

Rosie Winterton: The Government's policy on the release of post-1945 MI5 records into the Public Record Office is that such records should be released when they are over 30-years-old unless release would pose a risk to national security. The Security Service is responsible for determining the sensitivity of the records it holds.

Special Branch (Historical Records)

Norman Baker: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the extent of preserved police special branch historical records, and his policy in respect of release of such material into the Public Record Office.

Rosie Winterton: The records of the Metropolitan police special branch created up to April 2000 are designated public records and are subject to the review and disposal requirements of the Public Records Act 1958.
	During the review process records that are of no historical importance nor of continued administrative use are routinely destroyed. Records that have a long-term historical value are selected for preservation and are transferred to the Public Record Office where they are to be found in class MEPO 38. The records in the class cover a wide range of subjects and are intended to reflect the range of duties performed by the branch. They include both policy files and individual case papers. The earliest surviving records of the branch date from 1888.
	The MEPO 38 class currently holds records created for the most part up to 1936. Of these, a number are still withheld from public inspection. They are being assessed for continuing sensitivity using the criteria set out in the 1993 White Paper, Open Government, (Cm 2290), and will be made available to the public when no longer considered sensitive according to those criteria.
	Records created after 1936 are also being reviewed and those of historical importance will be selected for permanent preservation.

HM Land Registry

David Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Chief Executive of HM Land Registry will reply to the letter of 24 November 2001 from Dr. and Mrs. Pim about case reference 700/01/202.

Michael Wills: Correspondence about individual land registration cases is a matter for the Chief Land Registrar. The Land Registry's target for responding to letters connected with a complaint is five working days. In the current financial year to December 2001, it met this target in 92 per cent. of cases. I understand that, owing to an administrative error, Dr. and Mrs. Pim's letter was regrettably mislaid in the Land Registry and a reply was not sent within the target time. I also understand that the Chief Land Registrar wrote to Dr. and Mrs. Pim on 18 January to apologise for the delay in writing to them and to give them the information they required.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what equipment has been stolen from the Lord Chancellor's Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Rosie Winterton: This answer relates to the Department's offices and courts throughout England and Wales. Of the total figure for the year 200001 of 151,603.48 (listed in the table), 129,000 resulted from four separate incidents of theft. This comprises the separate figures of 73,000 (12 April 2000), 15,000 (18 May 2000), 16,000 (28 June 2000) and 25,000 (11 November 2000). Of these amounts, the cheques included in the figure of 73,000 have been recovered and the remainder (cash) was borne by one of the Department's PFI contractors. The figure of 15,000 was also borne by a PFI contractor. The figures are as in the table.
	
		
			 Date of incident Items stolen/lost Value () 
		
		
			  Financial year 199798 
			 11 April 1997 Cash 200.00 
			 26 April 1997 Cash 55.00 
			 1 May 1997 TV/video 450.00 
			 11 May 1997 Cash 500.00 
			 11 May 1997 Printers x 4 1,000.00 
			 16 May 1997 Video recorder 350.00 
			 20 May 1997 Printer 250.00 
			 22 May 1997 Laser printer fax machine 250.00 
			 3 June 1997 Laptop 1,000.00 
			 1 July 1997 Recorder and CD 1,000.00 
			 23 July 1997 PC mouse 10.00 
			 17 August 1997 Laser printer 250.00 
			 18 August 1997 Pen 150.00 
			 9 September 1997 Laptop 1,500.00 
			 15 September 1997 Video recorder 250.00 
			 7 November 1997 Desk tops x 5 and printer 300.00 
			 22 November 1997 Video recorder 250.00 
			 16 December 1997 PC 1,500.00 
			 22 December 1997 Laptop 1,500.00 
			 6 January 1998 Laptop 1,000.00 
			 9 January 1998 PC 1,000.00 
			 12 January 1998 PC mouse 10.00 
			 12 January 1998 Printer, keyboard and telephone 250.00 
			 17 February 1998 Answering machine 73.00 
			 5 March 1998 Assorted cutlery 65.00 
			 12 March 1998 External security light 100.00 
			 19 March 1998 Laptop 50.00 
			 19 March 1998 Colour TV and file server 50.00 
			 20 March 1998 File server and chips 3,000.00 
			 21 March 1998 Cufflinks 50.00 
			 27 March 1998 Cash 160.00 
			 29 March 1998 Keyboards x 4, mouse and barcode reader 300.00 
			 29 March 1998 Pocket memo recorder 10.00 
			 Total  16,883.00 
			  Financial year 199899 
			 03 April 1998 Cash 230.00 
			 14 April 1998 Contents of payphone 80.00 
			 18 May 1998 PC 150.00 
			 19 May 1998 CPU's missing 1,000.00 
			 29 May 1998 Video recorder 200.00 
			 29 May 1998 Printer cables 20.00 
			 2 June 1998 Mobile phone 100.00 
			 12 June 1998 Computers x 4 4,000.00 
			 12 June 1998 PC 250.00 
			 24 June 1998 Laptop 1,300.00 
			 27 June 1998 TV and CD radio 800.00 
			 29 June 1998 TV/video, TV, radio 800.00 
			 6 July 1998 CD 49.00 
			 10 July 1998 Wallet 130.00 
			 11 July 1998 Safe and laser printer 50.00 
			 14 July 1998 Laptop 2,000.00 
			 15 July 1998 Safe 1,015.00 
			 20 July 1998 Cash 102.00 
			 21 July 1998 Roof Lead 1,500.00 
			 21 July 1998 External security camera 200.00 
			 24 July 1998 Laptop 1,300.00 
			 27 July 1998 First aid boxes 148.00 
			 5 August 1998 Pen and lighter 90.00 
			 6 August 1998 Office CD 350.00 
			 12 August 1998 CD/radio 129.00 
			 20 August 1998 Mobile phone 95.00 
			 17 September 1998 Video recorder 350.00 
			 24 September 1998 Printer 200.00 
			 9 October 1998 Printer 49.00 
			 21 October 1998 Handbag and contents 110.00 
			 21 October 1998 Laptop 49.00 
			 29 October 1998 Printer 700.00 
			 20 November 1998 Laptop 49.00 
			 10 December 1998 Laptop 2,500.00 
			 14 December 1998 Handbag and contents 50.00 
			 16 December 1998 Vacuum cleaner 100.00 
			 19 March 1999 Laptop 49.00 
			 29 March 1999 Specialist phone 50.00 
			 1 April 1999 Payphone and cash 500.00 
			 Total  20,844.00 
			
			  Financial year 19992000 
			 10 April 1999 Cash 67.00 
			 26 April 1999 Payphone 505.00 
			 9 May 1999 Roof Lead 500.00 
			 10 May 1999 PC 49.00 
			 15 June 1999 Mobile phone 113.00 
			 4 July 1999 Union flag and rope 65.00 
			 11 August 1999 PC 1,500.00 
			 16 August 1999 Keyboard and printer 49.00 
			 17 August 1999 Payphone 340.00 
			 20 August 1999 Laptop 1,500.00 
			 20 August 1999 Laptop 1,500.00 
			 24 August 1999 Payphone 340.00 
			 15 September 1999 Cash 340.00 
			 16 September 1999 Payphone 200.00 
			 26 September 1999 TV and CD player 318.85 
			 13 October 1999 Mobile phone 158.25 
			 21 October 1999 Mobile phone 50.00 
			 28 October 1999 PC 49.00 
			 29 November 1999 Wallet and contents 120.00 
			 30 November 1999 Attempt to defraud court service 49.00 
			 9 December 1999 Laptop 200.00 
			 10 January 2000 Hard drives x 3 600.00 
			 13 January 2000 Video camera 500.00 
			 20 January 2000 Purse 49.00 
			 1 February 2000 Laptop 49.00 
			 2 February 2000 Payphone 50.00 
			 19 February 2000 Union flag 40.00 
			 16 March 2000 Dictaphone 69.81 
			 19 March 2000 Vending machine 340.00 
			 Total  9,710.91 
			
			  Financial year 200001 
			 3 April 2000 Barrier rope 116.00 
			 3 April 2000 Rope 116.32 
			 12 April 2000 Cash and cheques 73,000.00 
			 12 April 2000 Cashbox 49.00 
			 21 April 2000 Electronic postal scales 500.00 
			 29 April 2000 Tape recorder 38.42 
			 18 May 2000 PC base units x 15 15,000.00 
			 13 June 2000 Handbag and personal palm pilot 400.00 
			 22 June 2000 TV/video 250.00 
			 28 June 2000 PC's x 54 16,000.00 
			 1 July 2000 Laptop 1,500.00 
			 3 July 2000 Mobile phone 50.00 
			 3 July 2000 Mobile phone 50.00 
			 27 July 2000 Cash 2,300.00 
			 8 August 2000 Mobile phone 117.50 
			 10 August 2000 Laptop 1,000.00 
			 30 August 2000 Union flag 109.24 
			 20 September 2000 Payphone 550.00 
			 21 September 2000 Laptop 500.00 
			 27 September 2000 Laptop 1,500.00 
			 27 September 2000 Laptop 1,500.00 
			 28 September 2000 TV/video 160.00 
			 28 September 2000 TV/video 160.00 
			 6 October 2000 PC 150.00 
			 11 November 2000 Laptops x 9, keyboards x 2, projector and mobile phone 25,000.00 
			 15 November 2000 Laptop 500.00 
			 16 December 2000 Cash 140.00 
			 8 January 2001 PTO break in 49.00 
			 11 January 2001 Department mobile phone 100.00 
			 2 February 2001 CCTV camera 600.00 
			 21 March 2001 Laptop 49.00 
			 26 March 2001 Data stolen 49.00 
			 Total  151,603.48

Magistrates Courts

Peter Luff: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the sum imposed as fines by magistrates courts in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available; how much of that total was collected; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: Magistrates courts committees are responsible for the collection of a range of debts imposed through the courts, including fines, fees, compensation, confiscation orders, legal aid contributions and some maintenance orders. It is not possible to separate out just the fines from the total.
	The total amount imposed by magistrates in the period October 2000 to September 2001 was 358,702,837. Further amounts were imposed by other agencies, including the Crown court, making a total of new impositions which the magistrates courts had responsibility for collecting of 374,440,914.
	The total amount of money collected by the courts in the same period was 232,220,021. Most fines etc are paid by instalment, by agreement with the court. Some of the instalments on impositions made in 200001 are therefore not yet due for payment. The gap between the amount imposed and the amount collected is due in part to defendants' inability to pay as well as their attempts to avoid payment. Severe sanctions are available to the courts for non-payment, including the seizure of goods and imprisonment. Nevertheless the present situation leaves much room for improvement. The Access to Justice Act 1999 strengthened the powers of the magistrates courts committees to take effective action against defaulters and we have introduced an information sharing arrangement with the Department of Work and Pensions, which enables magistrates courts committees to trace a significantly increased proportion of defaulters.

Private Finance Initiative

Bob Russell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 15 January 2002, Official Report, column 172W, what progress has been made with the PFI scheme for a new court house in Colchester.

Michael Wills: Work on completing the outline business case for the provision of new and refurbished magistrates courts across Essex is in progress. It is anticipated that the business case will be ready for submission to the Essex magistrates courts committee, its paying authorities, my Department and the Office of Government Commerce's project review group for approval by the end of February.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Costs

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimates are of the administrative costs, in total and per claimant household, of (a) child benefit and (b) working families tax credit.

Malcolm Wicks: Child benefit is a universal, non- means tested payment made to families regardless of the level of income. The latest estimates for child benefit are that the total administrative cost is 1 125 million, or an average cost per family of 0.34 per week.
	WFTC is an individually assessed, income-related payment made to families with children where at least one partner works for at least 16 hours a week. The amount of the payment is dependent upon a range of factors including the hours worked, the size of the family and the age of the children. It may also take account of expenditure the family incurs in respect of child care. It is administered by the Inland Revenue; and they estimate that the total administrative cost is 133.8 million (1.92 per family per week). I understand that they will publish further figures shortly.
	Notes:
	1 The figures for child benefit are the estimated administrative costs for 199899 taken from the Social Security Departmental Report: The Government's Expenditure Plans for 200001 to 200102.
	2 These figures are estimates for the 12 months to March 2001.

Benefits (Belgium)

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the speed with which (a) UK nationals who have worked in Belgium but live in UK and (b) Belgians who have worked in UK get benefit claims dealt with by the Belgian authorities;
	(2)  how many people living in the UK are in receipt of supplementary benefit pending satisfaction of claims against the Belgian authorities in relation to employment benefits.

Malcolm Wicks: Information on the time taken to process benefit claims from UK nationals which rely on contribution records from the Belgian authorities could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information on the speed with which benefit claims from Belgian nationals are dealt with by the Belgian authorities is solely a matter for those authorities.
	As at 30 November 2001 there are two people living in Great Britain and in receipt of income-based jobseeker's allowance while we are awaiting details of their contribution record from the Belgian authorities. The Northern Ireland Assembly is responsible for social security matters in Northern Ireland.

Income Support

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will rank each local authority area in England by the percentage fall in the number of households claiming income support between March 1997 and March 2001.

Malcolm Wicks: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Social Exclusion

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate has been made of the administrative cost to the (a) state, (b) unsuccessful applicants and (c) successful applicants of the competitive grant schemes, provided by his Department and its agencies open in each year since 1997 to organisations in the voluntary and community sector for the purposes of tackling social exclusion;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the application form for each of the competitive grant schemes administered by his Department and its agencies open in each year since 1997 to organisations in the voluntary and community sector for the purposes of tackling social exclusion;
	(3)  if he will publish a list of the grants made under the competitive grant schemes administered by his Department and its agencies open in each year since 1997 to organisations in the voluntary and community sector for the purposes of tackling social exclusion;
	(4)  if he will list the competitive grant schemes, administered by the Department and its agencies, open in each year since 1997 to organisations in the voluntary and community sector for the purposes of tackling social exclusion; and, for each scheme in each year (a) the number of applicants, (b) the number of successful applicants, (c) the total of grants awarded, (d) the number of pages in the application form and (e) if the grant can be used to fund the core costs of the applicant organisation;
	(5)  how many competitive grant schemes administered by his Department and its agencies were open in each of the last 10 years to organisations in the voluntary and community sector for the purposes of tackling social exclusion.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 12 December 2001
	I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) on 19 December 2001, Official Report, column 482W and 8 January 2002, Official Report, columns 78384W.

Benefit Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) the constituency of Buckingham and (b) the UK have been prosecuted twice or more for benefit fraud in each year since 1992.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) the Epsom and Ewell constituency and (b) the UK have been prosecuted at least twice for benefit fraud in each year since 1992.

Malcolm Wicks: Information on benefit fraud at constituency level is not available. Nationally, our research suggests that approximately 5 per cent. of prosecutions involve a person with a previous conviction for benefit fraud. We are putting in place mechanisms to identify second and further convictions.

Age Discrimination

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on age discrimination in financial services.

Ian McCartney: We have recognised the importance of tackling age discrimination in employment sectors, including the financial services sector. That is why we have targeted this sector among others, as part of our age positive campaign. Through working with Age Champions, we have been challenging ageism in the financial sector by promoting the business benefits of age positive employment practices. We are considering ways of strengthening the campaign over the coming year.
	Our new website, www.agepositive.gov.uk, includes initial research we have undertaken to identify ageist employment practices across a range of sectors which include financial services. The research is also available in the Library.

Benefit Application Forms

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit application forms his Department and agencies produce; to which benefits these forms relate; and if he will place copies of each form in the Library.

Nick Brown: There are 64 benefit application forms produced by the Department for Work and Pensions. These relate to the following benefits:
	Attendance Allowance
	Back to Work Bonus
	Bereavement Benefit
	Child Benefit
	Child Maintenance Bonus
	Disability Living Allowance
	Guardian's Allowance
	Housing and Council Tax Benefits
	Income Support
	Industrial Injuries
	Jobseeker's Allowance
	Maternity Allowance
	Minimum Income Guarantee
	Retirement Pension
	Social Fund
	Vaccine Damage Payment
	Invalid Care Allowance
	Incapacity Benefit.
	Copies of all forms have been placed in the Library.

Winter Fuel Payments

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living in tenements in Scotland have received half their entitlement to the winter fuel payment because of a computer error relating to residents in separate tenement flats at the same street number; and what action is being taken to ensure they are paid their full entitlement as soon as possible and that the problem will not recur.

Ian McCartney: To ensure all eligible people in a household receive the correct level of winter fuel payment, the addresses are matched to ascertain how many people live at each address. The Department is aware that there have been problems regarding people living in tenements in Scotland and, to alleviate this, the Department clerically matches the addresses in areas where there are many tenement flats. This should ensure that the correct payment is made, and this system ought to prevent problems reoccurring. We are unable to provide the figure in the form requested but where an underpayment has come to light, corrective action has been taken.

Winter Fuel Payments

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money is estimated to have been overpaid in winter fuel payments in each year since 1997 (a) to people who have been paid more than they are entitled and (b) to people who are ineligible for the benefit; and how much of this money has been recovered.

Ian McCartney: The information requested is not available in the format requested.
	The Department makes every effort to ensure that addresses are matched with household composition to avoid overpayments. Where we become aware of either overpayments or underpayments, corrective action is taken to put it right and prevent this reoccurring.

Stakeholder Pension

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the Stakeholder Pension; and how much this will add to the total value of a pension.

Ian McCartney: As set out in our 1998 Green Paper Partnership in Pensions the Government's long-term pension reforms are designed to ensure that all pensioners have a decent income in retirement, building on the foundation of the basic state pension available to all. This means everyone recognising their responsibilities; with those who are able, saving for their retirement, the Government supporting those who cannot save, and the private sector providing affordable and secure second pensions.
	Before April 2001, many of those who could put money aside to provide for themselves in retirement had no straightforward, good value way to enter a pension scheme. Stakeholder pensions, which were introduced from that date, offered such people a good value, flexible product. Annual charges are capped at 1 per cent. of the fund's value, meaning more of what people pay in goes towards their pension. There are no additional charges for stopping and starting payments or transferring between stakeholder schemes. They are widely available but are particularly aimed at moderate to higher earners who do not already have access to an occupational pension or a good personal pension with an employer contribution. Stakeholder pensions are an important part of the framework this Government have now put in place to give everyone access to a good value pension arrangement and a decent income in retirement.
	The added value of a stakeholder pension will vary according to the charging structure of the particular scheme, the investment returns achieved and the individual's pattern of payments.

Poor Households

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of persons in poverty in working households without children are working more than 30 hours per week and are aged 25 years or over.

Malcolm Wicks: Poverty and social exclusion are complex multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of people's livesincluding their living standards, health, housing, the quality of the environment and not just low income. The third Opportunity for all report (Cm 5260) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents the latest information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy. Specific information regarding low income is available in Households Below Average Income 199495 to 19992000.

Pension Credit

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he will allow annuity holders (a) to draw down the assets and (b) to set up phased annuity schemes for the purposes of assessing entitlement to the proposed pension credit.

Ian McCartney: Income drawdown plans may be taken out by personal pension fund holders, but most drawdown providers generally only recommend this option for people with significant funds. Personal pension savings may be split in parts and annuitised separately. Income and potential income from private pensions will be relevant for the purposes of assessing entitlement to pension credit.

Share Ownership

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many shareholders there are in each region; and what proportion of the adult population of their areas they represent.

Malcolm Wicks: The information available for the latest year is in the following table.
	
		Stocks/shares/unit trusts/PEPs/ISAs holders in 200001
		
			 Government office region Number of adult stocks/shareholders in the region (Thousand) Proportion of adult population of the region who are stocks/shareholders (Percentage) Number of adult stocks/shares/unit trusts/PEPs/ISAs holders in the region (Thousand) Proportion of adult population of the region who are stocks/shares/unit trusts/PEPs/ISAs holders (Percentage) 
		
		
			 North East 240 11 510 23 
			 North West and Merseyside 940 18 1,630 31 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 700 18 1,220 31 
			 East Midlands 570 17 1,020 30 
			 West Midlands 560 15 1,080 29 
			 Eastern 980 24 1,590 39 
			 London 1,080 20 1,740 32 
			 South East 1,560 26 2,510 42 
			 South West 730 21 1,290 36 
			 England 7,360 20 12,580 34 
			 Wales 270 12 570 25 
			 Scotland 630 16 1,070 27 
			  
			 Total Great Britain 8,250 19 14,220 32 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure, Council Tax Band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and to variability in non-response.
	2. Questions on assets are a sensitive part of the FRS questionnaire and have relatively low level of response, and hence higher levels of imputation, compared to other parts of the survey. Responses are imputed in around 1 in 10 cases. Evidence also suggests some under reporting of capital by respondents.
	3. The final two columns of the table refer to adults reporting one of more of the categories: stocks and shares, unit trusts, PEPs and ISAs.
	4. The results are for Financial Year 200001 and the number of adults figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000.
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey (FRS)

Disability Living Allowance

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received in respect of the appropriateness of the application form for disability living allowance for haemodialysis patients; and what proposals he has to make amendments to it.

Maria Eagle: No such representations have been received and no changes are planned to the disability living allowance claim which would affect haemodialysis patients.

Disability Living Allowance

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for each of the last three years, how many and what percentage of (a) applicants for disability living allowance whose applications were accepted and (b) appeals against these decisions to reject applications were upheld; and how many of them were haemodialysis patients.

Maria Eagle: Information is not available in the form requested.

Disability Living Allowance

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to conduct a review of the operation of the disability living allowance.

Maria Eagle: As with other social security benefits, the operation of disability living allowance is kept under review. We have recently made significant improvements to the DLA claim form, we are currently piloting revised arrangements for obtaining relevant information from claimants' general practitioners, and in consultation with organisations representing disabled people, are testing an alternative system for extra-costs disability benefits based on activities for managing life.

Statistics and Reports

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the publication dates of statistics and reports due to be released by his Department and its agencies during calendar year 2002.

Ian McCartney: Information on the release dates of statistics published by the Department under the national statistics banner is notified in the National Statistics Update issued by the Office for National Statistics and is available in the Library. Release dates four months ahead are given and the information is rolled forward one month at the end of each month.

Correspondence

Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Chelmsford, West (Mr. Burns), of 5 December 2001, Official Report, column 430W, on numbers of letters received by his Department, if the details of letters received between 20 June and 20 July are available.

Maria Eagle: In my written answer of 5 December I said that information between 20 June and 20 July was not available in the format requested. That was incorrect. The information requested is as follows.
	We received 1,137 letters for ministerial reply between 20 June and 20 July. Of those 814 (72 per cent.) were answered within 20 working days, 244 (21 per cent.) were answered within 2140 working days and 79 (7 per cent.) were answered in more than 40 working days.

Unemployment (South Tyneside)

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to help unemployed people over 50 years of age back into work in south Tyneside.

Nick Brown: We are committed to helping people of all ages back into work. Our range of back to work programmes, including new deal 50 plus, new deal 25 plus and new deal for disabled people have helped to ensure that the employment rate for the over-50s has increased each year for the last four years. All of these programmes are operating in south Tyneside. In addition, extra support is available in south Tyneside through the local action team for jobs and work-focused interview site.

Benefits Agency

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what were the staffing levels for each of the last five years in the Benefits Agency offices at (a) Elthorne road, London N19, and (b) Seven Sisters road, London N7, the number of callers per day for the equivalent period and the average waiting time.

Malcolm Wicks: This is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Jeremy Corbyn, dated 9 January 2002
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking, if he will state the staffing levels for each of the last five years in the Benefits Agency offices at (a) Elthorne Road London N19 and (b) Seven Sisters Road London N7, the number of callers per day for the equivalent period and the average waiting time.
	The information is not available in the format requested. Such information that is available is in the attached table.
	I hope this is helpful.
	
		
			  Seven Sisters Road Finsbury Park office Elthorne Road Highgate office 
		
		
			  Average staff days per month 
			 1996 443 315 
			 1997 377 329 
			 1998 348 304 
			 1999 379 402 
			 2000 369 427 
			  Average number of callers per month 
			 1996 5,912 5,340 
			 1997 5,631 4,936 
			 1998 5,217 4,602 
			 1999 5,695 5,050 
			 2000 5,039 4,553 
			  Initial waiting time 10 minutes or less based on the average number of callers (shown as a percentage)  
			 1996 57 72 
			 1997 57 43 
			 1998 43 68 
			 1999 34 70 
			 2000 41 63 
			  Initial waiting time 30 minutes or less based on the average number of callers (shown as a percentage) 
			 1996 82 98 
			 1997 94 85 
			 1998 91 100 
			 1999 87 100 
			 2000 85 97

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

GCSE Point Scores

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what was the average annual change in points score at GCSE in (a) specialist, (b) grammar and (c) all secondary schools in each of the past five years.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 3 December 2002
	The information requested on the change in average GCSE/GNVQ point score for schools in England is shown in the table:
	
		(a) Specialist
		
			   Score in former year Score in latter year Change 
		
		
			 199596 and 199697 38.8 39.9 1.1 
			 199697 and 199798 40.1 41.5 1.4 
			 199798 and 199899 40.7 42.2 1.5 
			 199899 and 19992000 41.5 42.5 1.0 
			 19992000 and 200001 41.8 42.4 0.6 
		
	
	
		
			   (a) Specialist  (b) Selective  (c) All schools  
			   Change Score Change Score Change 
		
		
			 199697 1.1 57.0 0.6 35.9 0.5 
			 199798 1.4 59.4 2.4 37.0 1.1 
			 199899 1.5 60.7 1.3 38.1 1.1 
			 19992000 1.0 62.1 1.4 38.9 0.8 
			 200001 0.6 62.8 0.7 39.3 0.4 
		
	
	Note:
	As the number of specialist schools increases year on year, the column for 'specialist schools' refers to schools which were designated as specialist for both the appropriate academic years, hence two figures are given for each year. For example, throughout the academic years 199596 and 199697 there were 102 specialists. Throughout 199697 and 199798 there were 174 specialists. In the table above the 39.9 figure in the first row refers to the average point score of the 102 schools in 1997. The 40.1 figure in the second row refers to the average point score of the 174 specialists in 1997.

Adult and Community Learning

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the spending per head of population is on adult and community learning in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) the Chesham and Amersham constituency.

John Healey: Spending per head of population (adults 19 and over) on adult and community learning in Buckinghamshire was 4.74 in 19992000 1 . Figures for the Chesham and Amersham constituency are not available, as expenditure is calculated on an LEA basis only.
	1 Source: Audit Commission

Adult and Community Learning

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the spending per head of population is on (a) adult and (b) community learning in the Greater London area, broken down by constituency in this financial year.

John Healey: Set out is information for each London borough and for London overall for 19992000. This is the latest year for which final published data are available from LEA returns to the Audit Commission. Information is not available by constituency. The figures are s per adult (aged 19 and over).
	
		
			 London boroughs  
		
		
			 City of London n/a 
			 Camden 4.64 
			 Greenwich n/a 
			 Hackney 7.35 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 14.60 
			 Islington 3.57 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 5.89 
			 Lambeth 7.76 
			 Lewisham 8.90 
			 Southwark 3.21 
			 Tower Hamlets 13.32 
			 Wandsworth 5.37 
			 Westminster 15.61 
			 Barking and Dagenham 6.47 
			 Barnet 0.74 
			 Bexley 15.61 
			 Brent 6.26 
			 Bromley 9.49 
			 Croydon 10.39 
			 Ealing 0.52 
			 Enfield 0.28 
			 Haringey 8.95 
			 Harrow 2.22 
			 Havering 1.18 
			 Hillingdon 4.83 
			 Hounslow 4.66 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 8.47 
			 Merton 6.42 
			 Newham 5.79 
			 Redbridge 7.38 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 1.92 
			 Sutton 17.49 
			 Waltham Forest 7.32 
			  
			 London overall 6.99

Individual Learning Accounts

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the use of claims based on individual learning account funds to support terrorist activities.

John Healey: We have no evidence that ILA funds have been used for terrorist activity.

Individual Learning Accounts

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many ILA learning providers have to date (a) had complaints and (b) had no complaints made against them.

John Healey: We have had complaints concerning non-compliance with the ILA rules and regulations against 565 ILA learning providers out of a total of approximately 8,500 registered on the England ILA database.
	We had serious concerns about 86 providers and are in the process of investigating 82 of these.

Individual Learning Accounts

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many of those ILA learning providers that have had no complaints made against them have received all payments owed to them for the ILA scheme.

John Healey: We have as a matter of priority been working to validate outstanding claims to providers. On 21 December, all learning providers that have had no complaints made against them received payment for claims they had submitted up to 21 November.
	We intend making a further payment by Friday 25 January 2002 for learning confirmed between 21 November and 23 November.
	Officials will be writing to learning providers once arrangements for future payments for learning that was booked on the ILA system up to its closure on 23 November are finalised.

Individual Learning Accounts

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if consultation on a replacement scheme for individual learning accounts will be by invitation only; and if she will consider submissions from all interested parties.

John Healey: Although the views of providers, account holders and other key partners are being particularly sought, we welcome and will consider submissions from anyone who feels they have a contribution to make on a successor programme to ILAs.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what equipment has been stolen from her Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Ivan Lewis: The table details the equipment stolen from the Department for Education and Skills since 1 May 1997 along with the approximate value of the stolen equipment.
	
		
			  Description  Number of items Approximate value of item () Total approximate value () 
		
		
			 Financial year 199798
			 Laptop PC 5 1,000 5,000 
			 Printer 2 300 600 
			 PC chips 4 125 500 
			 PC hard drive 1 900 900 
			 IT kit 13 1,035 13,455 
			 Power drill 2 145 290 
			 CCTV camera 1 1,000 1,000 
			 Mobile phone 1 200 200 
			 Total   21,945 
			 
			 Financial year 199899
			 Laptop PC 7 1,000 7,000 
			 Palmtop PC 1 250 250 
			 PC chips From 205 PCs 423.57 86,831 
			 Total   94,081 
			 
			 Financial year 19992000
			 Laptop PC 5 1,000 5,000 
			 Palmtop PC 1 250 250 
			 PC processing unit 2 1,000 2,000 
			 Mobile phone 1 60 60 
			 Total   7,310 
			 
			 Financial year 200001
			 Laptop PC 2 1,000 2,000 
			 Palm pilot PC 1 300 300 
			 Nokia WAP phone 1 200 200 
			 Mobile phone and charger 1 100 100 
			 Total   2,600 
			 Financial year 200102
			 Laptop PC 3 1,000 3,000 
			 Mobile phone 2 100 200 
			 Video phone 1 200 200 
			 Phone charger 1 25 25 
			 Dictaphone 1 40 40 
			 Chair 1 80 80 
			 Total   3,545 
			 
			  The total number of items stolen since 1 May 1997 amounts to 265 at a total approximate value of 129,481 
		
	
	Note:
	Electronic security tags are fitted to all portable IT equipment held in London. The tags raise an alarm at reception of an unauthorised person attempts to remove the kit. The level of theft outside London is so low that it is not justified to extend tagging to the Darlington, Runcorn and Sheffield sites of the Department.

Stolen Equipment

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list those items valued at more than 50 which have been stolen or lost from her Department in each of the last four years.

Ivan Lewis: The table details items valued at 50 or more which have been stolen from the Department for Education and Skills in each of the last four years.
	
		
			  Description  Number of items Approximate value per item () Total approximate value () 
		
		
			 Laptop PC 7 1,000 7,000 
			 Palmtop PC 1 250 250 
			 PC chips From 205 PCs 423.57 86,831 
			 Total   94,081 
			 
			 Financial year 19992000
			 Laptop PC 5 1,000 5,000 
			 Palmtop PC 1 250 250 
			 PC processing unit 2 1,000 2,000 
			 Mobile phone 1 60 60 
			 Total   7,310 
			 
			 Financial year 200001
			 Laptop PC 2 1,000 2,000 
			 Palm pilot PC 1 300 300 
			 Nokia WAP phone 1 200 200 
			 Mobile phone and charger 1 100 100 
			 Total   2,600 
			 
			 Financial year 200102
			 Laptop PC 3 1,000 3,000 
			 Mobile phone 2 100 200 
			 Video phone 1 200 200 
			 Chair 1 80 80 
			 Total   3,480 
			 
			  The total number of items valued at 50 or more that have been stolen or lost in the last four years amounts to 263 at a total approximate value of 129,416 
		
	
	Note:
	Electronic security tags are fitted to all portable IT equipment held in London. The tags raise an alarm at reception if an unauthorised person attempts to remove the kit. The level of theft outside London is so low that it is not justified to extend tagging to the Darlington, Runcorn and Sheffield sites of the Department.

Nursery Provision (London)

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what records are kept by her Department on the extent of early years nursery provision in each London borough for the last five years; and if she will publish such records.

Margaret Hodge: The Department collects data on the numbers of three and four-year-old children taking up free early years education places at (1) maintained nursery and primary schools, and (2) maintained early years settings (other than maintained nursery and primary schools), independent schools, and private and voluntary early years settings in England, that are registered with Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships, in each local education authority area in England. These data are collected each term throughout the year as part of the Department's Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	The Department also collects data on the numbers of three and four-year-old children taking up early years education places in the spring term at (1) maintained nursery and primary schools in England, as part of its annual Schools Census data collection exercise, and (2) maintained early years settings (other than maintained nursery and primary schools), independent schools, private and voluntary early years settings in England, that are registered with Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships, as part of its annual Early Years Census data collection exercise.
	Figures for 1997 to 2001 for LEA areas in England for three and four-year-old children in maintained nursery and primary schools were published in Statistical Bulletin 112001 Provision for children under five years of age in EnglandJanuary 2001 which is available from the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/ or the Library. In addition, figures for three and four year old children taking up free early years education places in maintained nursery and primary schools and maintained early years settings (other than maintained nursery and primary schools), independent schools, private and voluntary early years settings were published in a table alongside the bulletin on the Department's website.

Ministerial Transport

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she last used the railway service in connection with her official duties; what station she left from and what was the destination; and whether it is her intention to make greater use of the railways in future.

Estelle Morris: I last used the railway service on Thursday 6 December to travel from Paddington to Bristol. I use the network on a regular basis in connection with my official duties and for travel to and from my constituency.
	All travel is conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the accompanying guidance document, Travel by Ministers.

Teachers' Pay

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what is the pay entitlement of a teacher who has achieved the upper pay spine when changing schools.

Stephen Timms: Crossing the threshold entitles a teacher to be paid on point 1 of the upper pay scale. That entitlement continues to apply when a teacher changes schools. Further progress on the upper pay scale will be on the basis of discretionary performance points awarded by individual governing bodies. The School Teachers' Review Body is considering whether such points should be portable, as we have proposed. Portability would be consistent with expecting all schools to take account of the same general criteria in awarding such points. It would also facilitate movement between schools.

Teachers' Pay

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures she is taking to ensure consistency between schools in allocating upper pay spine awards.

Stephen Timms: Progress on the upper pay scale for classroom teachers will be on the basis of discretionary performance points awarded by governing bodies at individual schools. The Department sent guidance on school salary policies and performance points to schools last September. This said that points should reward substantial and sustained performance and contribution to the school that showed greater breadth and depth than the threshold standards. The guidance also made it clear that schools would have to interpret and develop these general criteria in the light of local circumstances and priorities.

Teachers' Pay

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes she plans to the head teachers' retirement package arrangements; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: 10 million of standards fund money was made available in each of 200001 and 200102 to support an early retirement scheme for head teachers. This was a two-year scheme aimed at raising the standard of leadership in schools. Although the financial support that this scheme provided will not continue beyond the end of this financial year, it will still be open to employers to grant early retirement to head teachers where they believe that doing so would be beneficial.

Rural Transport

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a direct grant allocation to Shropshire county council to support the additional transport costs incurred by a rural county.

Stephen Timms: In 200203 Shropshire's Education SSA will increase by 6.88 million or 6.16 per cent. Shropshire will also benefit from an overall increase in Standards Fund grant of almost 160 million; and an increase of 2.75 per cent. in the direct grant for schools. We believe that this is a good settlement sufficient to cover all the cost pressures on Shropshire next year, including the additional transport costs incurred by a rural county.
	However, we are currently working up a new funding system for introduction in 200304. As part of that work we are taking account of the costs associated with rural areas such as home to school transport.

School Expulsions

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are in place to ensure that an expelled pupil is able to carry on in education; and what steps are taken if a pupil continues to disrupt.

Ivan Lewis: The Department's guidance to local education authorities is that ideally many permanently excluded pupils should rejoin a mainstream or special school within days or weeks of exclusion. Those permanently excluded pupils who are not re-integrated into a new school should be offered opportunities in Pupil Referral Units (PRU), FE colleges and or on work experience. Rapid re-integration is particularly important for excluded primary pupils and I expect that most of them would be re-integrated within one term. Conversely, for pupils approaching the end of compulsory schooling, a return to school may be unrealistic and in those cases alternative provision like a PRU or FE college is more appropriate.
	The guidance does not direct that alternative provision must be found immediately for a permanently excluded child. The Discipline Committee must meet to review the decision no later than 15 school days after notification of the exclusion. During this time the guidance states that the head teacher should plan for the child's continued education. This can be by setting and marking work for the child to do at home. Where a parent lodges an appeal, I expect the school and LEA to work together to secure the pupil's on-going education. Following an unsuccessful appeal, reintegration into a school or PRU may take some time.
	Reintegration Panels are responsible for co-ordinating services for excluded pupils. They must draw up an individual re-integration plan for each excluded child. This plan should be in place within a month of the governors upholding the exclusion and it is reviewed on a monthly basis. It should include a target date for return to school, once the school to which the child will return has been identified.
	Pupils who continue to be disruptive may be excluded from their new school or, as a last resort, from a Pupil Referral Unit. However, we now have a network of Learning Support Units in schools and Pupil Referral Units to support our drive to tackle poor behaviour and continue to raise standards in schools.

Special Educational Needs

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in the Uxbridge constituency have been statemented in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The available data are shown in the table:
	
		Number of pupils with statements of SEN in the Uxbridge constituencyposition in January each year
		
			   Primary schools Secondary schools 
		
		
			 2001 122 163 
			 2000 115 174 
			 1999 100 170 
			 1998 105 175 
			 1997 107 180 
		
	
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

Special Educational Needs

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average percentage of special needs children is in (a) all schools in England and (b) faith schools in England.

Ivan Lewis: The available information is shown in the table:
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools: percentage of pupils with Special Educational Needsas at January 2000 -- Percentage
		
			   All schools Faith schools 
		
		
			 SEN pupils with statements 2.0 1.5 
			 SEN pupils without statements 18.7 17.1 
		
	
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

Primary School Heads

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of primary school heads are estimated to earn more than 60,000 per annum.

Stephen Timms: The School Teachers' Review Body's leadership group pay survey for 2000 estimated that 0.2 per cent. of primary school heads earn more than 60,000 per annum.

Education (Somerset)

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Government have spent on education in Somerset in each of the financial years since 199697, broken down by areas on which the funding has been spent.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is contained in the following table:
	
		Somerset --  million
		
			  SSA Grants Total 
		
		
			 Cash
			 199697 150.908 1.558 152.465 
			 199798 150.711 6.912 157.623 
			 199899 165.321 2.392 167.713 
			 19992000 175.623 6.161 181.784 
			 200001 186.168 16.266 202.435 
			 200102 194.974 24.882 219.855 
			 Change(45) 44.066 23.324 67.390 
			 
			 Real terms: prices 200001
			 199697 166.659 1.720 168.379 
			 199798 161.463 7.405 168.868 
			 199899 172.299 2.493 174.792 
			 19992000 178.722 6.269 184.992 
			 200001 186.168 16.266 202.435 
			 200102 190.218 24.275 214.493 
			 Change(45) 23.559 22.555 46.114 
		
	
	(45) Change since 199697
	Notes:
	1. Figures reflect Education SSA plus all school related revenue grants.
	2. Real terms figures are calculated using GDP deflators published by the Treasury 20 December 2001.
	3. 200102 figures are provisional.

Education (Somerset)

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much her Department spent on advertising in Somerset between 31 December 2000 and 31 December 2001.

Ivan Lewis: In the period 31 December 2000 to 31 December 2001, the Department for Education and Skills spent 11,513 on advertising on Somerset local radio. There was no expenditure on advertising in Somerset local press.
	People living in Somerset will also have been exposed to national advertising run by the Department for Education and Skills. It is not possible to calculate what percentage of spending on television advertising can be allocated to Somerset because half of the county falls into the HTV West television region and the other half falls into the West Country television region.

Sex Education

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on her policy on sex education in schools.

Ivan Lewis: The responsibility for determining a school policy on sex and relationship education rests with governing bodies and head teachers. Our Sex and Relationship Education guidance, published in July 2000, clearly states that governing bodies and head teachers should consult parents in developing their sex and relationship education policy to ensure that the views of parents and the community are reflected. All schools must have a policy, which is made available for inspection and to parents.
	The Department recommends that sex and relationship education should be supported by a school's wider curriculum for Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Citizenship. In this way, schools can ensure that pupils receive their sex education in the wider context of relationships and are prepared for the responsibilities and experiences of adult life.

Standards Funds

George Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the standards funds allocated to Stoke-on-Trent local education authority in (a) 19992000, (b) 200001 and (c) 200102.

Stephen Timms: The table shows allocations for the standards fund for Stoke-on-Trent local education authority in 19992000, 200001 and 200102. The figures include both Government and local authority contributions.
	
		Standards fund allocations for city of Stoke-on-Trent council
		
			   
		
		
			 19992000  
			 Administrative Support in Small Schools 57,084 
			 Applications for Education Action Zones 30,000 
			 Books for Schools 1,585 
			 Class Size Initiative 1,080,242 
			 Computer Systems for Chairs of Education 2,000 
			 Drug Prevention 39,355 
			 Early Years Training and Development 67,342 
			 Education and Health Partnerships 19,000 
			 Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots 1,024,683 
			 Ethnic Minority Achievements 614,112 
			 Laptops for Heads of Small Primary and Special Schools 15,466 
			 Literacy and Numeracy Summer Schools 119,500 
			 Local Education Authority Music Services 148,000 
			 Local Recruitment Measures 50,000 
			 National Grid for Learning 1,000,000 
			 Playing for Success 100,000 
			 Primary Literacy and Numeracy Strategies 687,782 
			 Qualifications 46,275 
			 School Asset Management Plans 33,610 
			 School Improvement 1,445,382 
			 School Leadership 122,631 
			 School Security 115,898 
			 Social Inclusion 342,484 
			 Special Educational Needs 272,855 
			 Support for Parent Governor Representatives 1,000 
			 Work Related Learning at Key Stage 4 49,500 
			 Working Environment Fund 99,860 
			 Year 6 Literacy and Numeracy Booster Classes 277,910 
			 Total 7,863,556 
			   
			 200001  
			 Administrative Support for Small Schools 172,735 
			 Beacon Schools 56,000 
			 Best Practice Research Scholarships 34,335 
			 City Learning Centres: Design and Capital Costs 300,000 
			 Class Size Initiative 1,165,476 
			 Developing and Extending Maintained Nursery School Services 69,032 
			 Devolved Formula Capital for Schools 1,501,654 
			 Early Years Training and Development 67,858 
			 Education and Health Partnerships 33,706 
			 Ethnic Minority Pupils and Traveller Achievement 614,112 
			 Excellence in Cities: Development 25,676 
			 Excellence in Cities: Excellence Challenge 12,739 
			 Excellence in Cities: Gifted and Talented Children 361,000 
			 Excellence in Cities: Learning Mentors and Learning Support Units 676,000 
			 Key Stage 3 Numeracy: Secondary Schools Conference 14,656 
			 Literacy and Numeracy: Summer Schools and Key Stage 3 132,000 
			 Local Education Authority Music Services 238,000 
			 National Grid for Learning 1,000,000 
			 New National Curriculum 90,500 
			 Maintained Nursery Capital 92,200 
			 Performance Management Training 207,252 
			 Pilot Education Maintenance Allowance 2,397,843 
			 Playing for Success 125,000 
			 Primary Literacy and Numeracy Strategies 860,176 
			 Qualifications 36,429 
			 School Improvement 1,640,597 
			 School Laboratories for the 21st Century 155,850 
			 School Leadership 85,985 
			 School Security 114,362 
			 Seed Capital Challenge 172,790 
			 Small Education Action Zones 20,000 
			 Small School Support Fund 86,834 
			 Social Inclusion, Drugs and Youth 1,067,179 
			 Special Educational Needs 341,025 
			 Specialist Schools 158,386 
			 Study Support 180,886 
			 Summer Schools for Gifted and Talented Pupils 18,000 
			 Support for Parent Governor Representatives 1,200 
			 Teacher Incentives 13,682 
			 Teaching Assistants 758,183 
			 Teenage Pregnancies 93,000 
			 Working Environment Fund 99,860 
			 Year 6 Literacy and Numeracy Booster Classes 247,392 
			 Total 15,539,590 
			   
			 200102  
			 Adult:Pupil Ratios in Reception Classes 346,792 
			 Advanced Skills Teachers 152,000 
			 Child Protection Co-ordinators 39,600 
			 Children in Public Care 41,661 
			 Children of Asylum Seekers 3,500 
			 City Learning Centres 2,400,000 
			 Class Size Initiative 1,255,664 
			 Devolved Capital 2,226,443 
			 Drug Prevention and Advisers 65,760 
			 Early Professional Development 264,800 
			 Early Years Training and Development 76,293 
			 Education Health Partnerships 32,798 
			 Ethnic Minority Achievement 614,112 
			 Excellence in Cities: Beacon Schools 70,000 
			 Excellence in Cities: Excellence Challenge 211,101 
			 Excellence in Cities: Secondary(46) 1,778,000 
			 Gifted and Talented Children Summer Schools 18,000 
			 Induction of Newly Qualified Teachers 441,363 
			 Information Management Strategy 153,893 
			 Key Stage 3: National Implementation 274,803 
			 Literacy and Numeracy Summer Schools 100,000 
			 Local Education Authority Music Services 264,400 
			 Maintained Nursery School Service 140,650 
			 National Curriculum 90,336 
			 National Grid for Learning 1,356,063 
			 NDS Condition Funding 1,696,708 
			 Performance Management 136,283 
			 Playing for Success 120,036 
			 Primary Literacy and Numeracy Strategies 927,979 
			 Qualifications 15,870 
			 School Achievement Awards 340,950 
			 School Improvement 997,000 
			 School Laboratories 287,409 
			 School Leadership 95,563 
			 School Security 112,855 
			 Seed Capital Challenge 191,087 
			 Sick Children 11,903 
			 Small Education Action Zones 415,414 
			 Small Schools Fund 336,606 
			 Social Inclusion: Pupil Support 1,282,329 
			 Special Educational Needs 434,461 
			 Specialist Schools 341,809 
			 Study Support 284,029 
			 Supported Early Retirement Scheme for Heads 40,000 
			 Teachers' Sabbaticals 36,000 
			 Teaching Assistants 1,118,490 
			 Teenage Pregnancies 93,000 
			 Truancy Buster Awards 8,000 
			 Year 6 Booster Classes 261,114 
			 Year 9 Booster Classes 76,500 
			 Total 22,079,427 
		
	
	(46) Including Gifted and Talented Children, Learning Support Units and Learning Mentors

Specialist Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have applied for specialist college status in the last six months.

Stephen Timms: The total number of schools that have applied for specialist college status in the last six months is 261.

HIV

Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what requirements there are for HIV prevention work to take place in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities.

Stephen Timms: Sex education, which must include teaching about HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools. It is discretionary in primary schools. There are no requirements for HIV prevention work to take place in further or higher educational establishments.

HIV

Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who is responsible for funding HIV prevention work in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities.

Stephen Timms: The Government distribute funding to local authorities through formula assessed Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs). Local education authorities then distribute funding to the schools they maintain, enabling them to fulfil their statutory obligations. Local NHS funding could be used to fund or contribute to HIV prevention within schools, colleges and universities, for example in the production of information resources. Alternatively, schools, colleges and universities may choose to buy in or work with non-statutory local organisations.

Leeds Schools

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many whole-time equivalent teachers were employed in Leeds schools in (a) 1997 and (b) 2001.

Stephen Timms: Full-time equivalent regular teachers in the maintained schools sector in Leeds were as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
		
		
			 January 1997 5,900 
			 January 2001 6,040 
		
	
	Teacher numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Environmental Appraisals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many environmental appraisals have been published by her Department since 1 January 2001; and if she will list the last four.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 January 2002
	None.

Environmental Appraisals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the last occasion was on which she requested an environmental appraisal before making a policy decision.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 January 2002
	The Department for Education and Skills has procedures in place to ensure that environmental appraisals take place when necessary. Examples of policy decisions which included appraisal of environmental impacts are: guidance to schools in England on energy and water management which Ministers aim to issue in spring 2002; obtaining accreditation in 2001 for environmental management of one of our headquarters sites to an international standard; and, in the school curriculum, the Growing Schools programme. This last initiative, launched in 2001, encourages teachers to use farming and growing to help pupils explore different aspects of sustainable development such as the effects of climate change, the life cycle of plants and animals, the values and traditions of rural communities, and the place of agriculture in today's economy.

Environmental Appraisals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what procedures her Department has to ensure environmental appraisals are undertaken prior to (a) administrative and (b) policy decisions being made.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 January 2002
	Administrative procedures are monitored by an inter-site facilities management working group. This is supported by our procurement policy, which includes guidance on including environmental considerations in whole-life purchasing decisions. On policy, our business planning process reminds policy officials to consider their policy impact on the environment in annual planning, which senior officials review at key points in the year.

Environmental Appraisals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans her Department has to appraise the environmental implications of its Spending Review submission to the Treasury.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 January 2002
	As part of this Department's Spending Review submission to the Treasury we will, in common with other Departments, report on the sustainable development impact of our bids, including any environmental impact.

Environmental Appraisals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many officials from her Department have attended the Environmental Appraisal and Integration into Policy training course run by the Civil Service College.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 21 January 2002
	No officials from my Department attended the first of these courses. The course will run three times a year, and has been brought to the attention of my officials. Officials learn about environmental issues through on the job training and written guidance, as well as formal courses by the Civil Service and other training providers.

Standard Spending Assessment

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much (a) Staffordshire and (b) Hertfordshire spent on education as a percentage of SSA in each of the past five years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is given in the following table:
	
		Education as a percentage of SSA
		
			 Year  
		
		
			 Staffordshire  
			 199697 102.0 
			 199798 102.3 
			 199899 101.3 
			 19992000 101.1 
			 200001 100.5 
			   
			 Hertfordshire  
			 199697 102.7 
			 199798 101.8 
			 1998199 100.8 
			 19992000 99.7 
			 200101 100.1 
		
	
	Note:
	1. Information is taken from data published in the 2001 and previous years' Departmental Annual Reports. Budget figures up to 19992000 were taken from local authorities' latest Revenue Account returns submitted to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, and for 200001, from LEAs s52 Budget statements.
	2. From 199798 Staffordshire does not include Stoke-on-Trent

Foreign Language Programmes

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the use of foreign language television and radio in (a) secondary school education and (b) post-secondary school education.

Ivan Lewis: Foreign language broadcasts which have been carefully scripted with content, structure and language level appropriate to the target learners can be a valuable resource for teaching school pupils and older students. They can provide access to a range of authentic native speakers, up to date and topical materials, and opportunities for introducing cultural elements to language learning.
	Broadcasts aimed at the native-speaker audience which are accessed from abroad, normally require selection and mediation by a teacher to ensure suitable content, accessible language and effective use for learning purposes.

Student Debts

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of the extent to which the possibility of having incurred a debt upon graduation affects the numbers of people who attend university; and what plans she has to change the relative contributions of (a) students and (b) Government to higher education funding.

Margaret Hodge: Some research, such as that published by the Department in 2001 on Issues Affecting Decisions on Participation by Lower Socio-Economic Groups (SEGs), indicates that finance and concern about debt are factors which can deter people from going on to higher education. However, assessing the deterrent effect is difficult in the light of welcome increases in entry numbers. Final UCAS figures for autumn 2001 show that acceptances of English domiciled full-time higher education students are up by 5.9 per cent. compared to the same time last year, building on the rising trend of previous years. But as yet there is no evidence that the proportion of lower SEGs entering HE has increased significantly. Our review of student finance is considering both the student debt issue, particularly in relation to the lower socio-economic groups, and the relative contributions of students, parents and the Government to student support. We expect to make an announcement on the outcome later this year.

Ofsted

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the findings of the recent Ofsted inspection into Gloucestershire local education authority.

Stephen Timms: My officials have discussed the report with the council's lead members and officers. I am assured that the authority recognises the weaknesses identified by Ofsted, and will be addressing the recommendations in the year ahead. I await the authority's post-Ofsted action plan, which will set out the action proposed.

Teacher Shortages

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of teacher shortages in Gloucestershire; what steps she is taking to improve the situation; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Information on the number of teacher vacancies in local education authorities is collected once a year in January as part of the annual census of teachers and vacancies. In January 2001, the vacancy rate for Gloucestershire was 0.3 per cent. compared with 1.4 per cent. nationally. This amounts to a total of 14 vacancies across the maintained sector. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out our longer term proposals for teachers and teaching in a pamphlet, Professionalism and Trust, published in November 2001.

Grammar and Spelling Tests

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her policy is on grammar and spelling tests in (a) primary and (b) secondary education.

Stephen Timms: In order to make sense of what they read children need a clear awareness of grammar for both literal and inferential understanding, both of which are assessed in the reading tests at each key stage. At Key Stage 1 and 2 spelling is assessed by a separate test. At Key Stage 1 the outcome of the test is reported separately, while at Key Stage 2 it contributes to an overall level for writing. At Key Stage 3 spelling is an integral part of the judgment leading to an overall level for writing. Grammar is assessed within the context of pupils' writing at all key stages. Criteria for grammar that allow teachers and markers to make judgments about pupils' performance are integral to the mark schemes.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many answers to parliamentary questions have not been answered by her Department under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994.

Ivan Lewis: The information available is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 199697 3 
			 199798 1 
			 199899 4 
			 19992000 2 
		
	
	Prior to 1996 the information was not collected.

Community Learning

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what is the spending per head of population on adult and community learning in (a) Worcestershire and (b) the West Midlands; what is the average spending per head in (i) the shire counties and (ii) England; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: The following is the average spend on adult education per adult (aged 19 and over):
	Worcestershire: 0.36
	West Midlands*: 2.78
	County Councils: 3.80
	England: 4.42
	*For the West Midlands Region. Figures calculated on the basis of the population 18-65. (Source: Audit Commission figures for 19992000.)
	These figures reflect decisions taken by individual local authorities on the nature and scale of adult and community learning (ACL) in their area. Since 19992000 all areas including Worcestershire have benefited from significant increases in funding. In 200203 we will be providing a record 167 million for ACL in England, a 9 per cent. increase in recurrent funding for adult education on 200102. Since April 2001 responsibility for adult and community learning has rested with the Learning and Skills Council. One of the objectives behind this change in responsibilities is over time to reduce inequalities in opportunities between areas.

Schools Spending

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what has been the total spending on schools in each London borough in each of the last 10 years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is contained in the table. Expenditure in running these authorities was affected by schools becoming grant-maintained during the early part of this period, and by the return of grant-maintained schools to LEA-maintained status in 19992000.
	
		Net institutional expenditure(47) --  million
		
			 London authorities All sectors 
			 LEA name LEA no. 199091 199192 199293 199394 199495 199596 199697 199798 199899 19992000 
		
		
			 City of London 201 0.457 0.616 0.711 0.733 0.761 0.808 0.830 0.797 0.855 0.949 
			 Camden 202 45.457 52.452 53.300 51.394 50.328 53.280 56.664 57.310 58.500 72.210 
			 Greenwich 203 78.867 78.255 85.843 83.782 87.994 90.972 93.758 87.796 96.735 109.433 
			 Hackney 204 55.790 62.233 63.317 57.181 66.951 64.959 66.288 68.743 70.663 81.482 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 205 37.264 38.810 41.915 43.281 43.294 42.879 44.203 45.983 47.374 55.246 
			 Islington 206 45.795 61.737 75.272 68.639 55.063 61.704 61.675 65.165 65.323 67.182 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 207 23.424 27.869 25.236 25.239 24.699 27.099 26.479 27.881 28.807 34.967 
			 Lambeth 208 57.424 65.382 68.624 69.624 63.629 60.189 56.362 64.542 63.565 92.356 
			 Lewisham 209 65.517 68.233 65.033 72.597 74.904 80.350 80.578 90.030 93.794 107.164 
			 Southwark 210 64.814 65.988 66.224 59.549 61.919 68.458 70.382 73.393 80.902 105.177 
			 Tower Hamlets 211 69.583 79.720 84.052 96.829 95.239 99.152 104.346 102.995 110.154 125.519 
			 Wandsworth 212 65.671 73.924 67.513 54.490 55.076 54.506 49.255 50.343 53.413 90.383 
			 Westminster 213 34.185 52.072 44.889 45.636 45.608 46.574 49.295 49.686 53.011 54.171 
			 Barking and Dagenham 301 42.632 45.810 50.196 51.444 55.179 58.364 61.674 62.652 69.252 74.408 
			 Barnet 302 69.253 79.162 90.885 83.599 66.345 68.799 73.678 74.283 78.312 126.585 
			 Bexley 303 51.545 56.351 57.978 59.756 56.434 58.330 61.781 64.175 70.925 86.209 
			 Brent 304 59.098 64.424 67.128 51.972 45.151 45.152 47.351 51.575 55.738 105.460 
			 Bromley 305 61.423 59.857 53.196 50.180 51.215 47.047 42.582 43.776 48.168 108.076 
			 Croydon 306 69.349 78.298 83.105 78.762 68.111 76.522 79.009 79.640 84.937 118.172 
			 Ealing 307 76.826 79.802 70.017 68.895 69.944 71.799 74.338 75.745 81.036 108.799 
			 Enfield 308 66.894 78.218 83.569 79.795 74.649 77.335 84.951 87.727 94.540 119.979 
			 Haringey 309 56.588 61.198 66.749 75.059 77.838 82.195 87.263 88.067 91.712 96.460 
			 Harrow 310 47.399 52.058 58.719 57.319 62.193 64.302 67.205 66.538 69.757 75.762 
			 Havering 311 56.957 62.829 69.007 61.451 64.297 65.078 66.123 67.812 70.998 86.336 
			 Hillingdon 312 57.856 54.832 50.422 42.060 38.617 40.609 42.035 41.072 42.528 98.818 
			 Hounslow 313 56.593 62.483 71.891 70.047 72.494 73.523 77.119 77.458 83.255 94.208 
			 Kingston upon Thames 314 30.942 34.493 37.406 31.503 31.903 31.841 32.422 31.560 33.985 48.316 
			 Merton 315 39.133 42.586 48.938 46.024 48.242 46.783 48.604 49.516 51.652 59.060 
			 Newham 316 67.077 74.398 82.244 81.463 87.535 90.663 102.744 102.969 106.445 119.340 
			 Redbridge 317 52.732 60.647 68.704 72.055 74.107 77.169 81.436 83.533 90.317 103.514 
			 Richmond upon Thames 318 28.811 32.416 36.249 37.091 39.573 40.818 41.977 43.524 44.938 46.781 
			 Sutton 319 37.152 38.980 36.405 32.337 36.787 37.090 39.089 40.433 44.144 67.998 
			 Waltham Forest 320 65.673 67.816 67.467 68.529 65.281 74.027 73.812 76.509 80.809 97.962 
		
	
	(47) Total funding on schools is given by Net Institutional Expenditure which covers all school-based recurrent spending, including teaching and non-teaching staff salaries, school premises costs, equipment and supplies, and unspent balances held by schools at the year end. It excludes spending on special schools, central administration and support services such as transport and school meals as well as capital expenditure.
	NIE includes school balances for most years. However, balance information was not available for some previous years, and in some cases for special schools. Therefore, NIE figures across the series may not be strictly comparable.
	Expenditure data for 199001 to 199899 inclusive are taken from RO1 returns; data for 19992000 taken from local authorities' S52 outturn statements.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Prosecution (Official Secrets)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been begun in each year since 1972 under Official Secrets legislation; and what the outcome was in each case.

Keith Bradley: The available information, from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, relating to England and Wales for the years 1979 to 2000 is shown in the table. This covers proceedings under the Official Secrets Act 1911 and 1989 and tabulates the outcomes of cases completed in the years shown by category.
	It is no longer possible, from the data held centrally, to identify court proceedings for such legislation prior to 1979, nor is it possible to identify summary offences under the Official Secrets Act 1920.
	
		Persons proceeded against for offences under the Official Secrets Acts, by outcome, England and Wales 1979 to 2000
		
			  Type of sentence  
			   Proceeded against Withdrawn, dismissed acquitted Found guilty and sentenced(48) Fine Community service order Partly suspended sentence Fully suspended sentence Immediate custody 
		
		
			 1979 1  11  
			 1980 1 1   
			 1981 4  3 1 2
			 1982 8  72 5 
			 1983 4  3 21 
			 1984 13 1 5 32 
			 1985 3 11   
			 1986  1 2 1   1  
			 1987 3 1 42 2 
			 1988 11 3 3   2  1 
			 1989   88  
			 1990 
			 1991 5 3 2 2 
			 1992 1
			 1993 1  1 1 
			 1994 
			 1995 
			 1996 
			 1997 1  1 1 
			 1998 2  1 1 
			 1999   1 1 
			 2000 3 2   
		
	
	(48) Persons shown as found guilty may have been proceeded against in earlier years. In some cases a Voluntary Bill of Indictment was issued, so no magistrates' court proceedings will have taken place.

Government Technical Assistance Centre

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of the Government Technical Assistance Centre; and what (a) its budget and (b) establishment are in the current financial year.

David Blunkett: The role of the Government Technical Assistance Centre, now known as the National Technical Assistance Centre (NTAC), is to provide assistance to the investigations of United Kingdom intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
	It will do so by providing techniques for lawful interception of modern multimedia communications and by processing those lawfully intercepted communications in order to provide intelligible material to the intercepting agencies. NTAC also provides techniques to derive intelligible evidence from lawfully seized computer data.
	NTAC was established in response to the 1999 Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit report Encryption and Law Enforcement. It is a Unit within the Home Office and operates from the headquarters of the Security Services.
	NTAC is not an investigative facility. Its function is to process lawfully acquired data on behalf of its customers so that such data may be made intelligible and then acted upon by investigators within the relevant customer agency.
	Since the summer of 2001 NTAC has been operational in its role in respect of lawfully seized computer data. It plans to commence operational work in respect of lawfully intercepted communications in summer 2002. Budget 200102:
	The NTAC budget for 200102 is 16 million. Of this, 1 million is Running Cost provision and 15 million is capital provision from an overall three-year Capital Modernisation Fund (CMF) allocation of 25 million. The purpose of the CMF moneys is to establish the technical facilities necessary for NTAC to undertake its operational role.
	Establishment 200102:
	The current (January 2002) operational establishment of NTAC is 16 and will rise to 18 by the end of the current financial year. This includes senior management, operational and support staff. The establishment will rise further as new operational capabilities come on stream.
	NTAC also runs a technical programme which is developing its technical facilities. This currently comprises 14 staff and will disband when NTAC is fully operational.

Surveillance

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what controls exist to regulate the monitoring of the location of individuals through signals sent by mobile phones.

John Denham: Communications data, including location data, may be supplied voluntarily for specified purposes (e.g. investigation of crime) under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Telecommunications Act 1984. It may additionally be supplied in obedience to Court Orders.
	A new regulatory regime will be provided by Chapter II of Part I of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. This will be brought into force in due course. Under Chapter II, an authorising officer must consider that the communications data are necessary for one of the purposes specified by the Act and that the conduct involved in obtaining them is proportionate to what it seeks to achieve.
	Access to communications data will be subject to oversight by the Interception Commissioner. Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

Surveillance

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been initiated under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; what the outcome was in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: None. Stolen Equipment

Surveillance

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Angela Eagle: A list of equipment stolen from my Department in the last four years and approximate value of each item stolen is provided in the following tables.
	
		
			 Description of the item Value () 
		
		
			 Analysis of 30 items of reported theft in 199798  
			 Laptop computer 6,000 
			 Laptop computer 3,000 
			 Laptop computer 3,000 
			 Laptop computer 3,000 
			 Laptop computer 3,000 
			 Laptop computer 2,000 
			 Laptop computer 2,000 
			 Laptop computer 1,500 
			 Laptop computer 1,500 
			 Personal computer 1,550 
			 Personal computer 1,005 
			 Personal computer 434 
			 Computer printer 1,593 
			 Computer printer 329 
			 Computer monitor 500 
			 Computer keyboard 40 
			 Computer mouse 22 
			 Computer mother board 150 
			 Fax modem 130 
			 Mobile phone 118 
			 Video camera 1,500 
			 Video camera 800 
			 Video 300 
			 Tools 500 
			 Tools 131 
			 Field gates 240 
			 Pressure Washer 3,317 
			 Armoured cable 200 
			 Desk fan 41 
			 Desk fan 40 
			 Total value of 30 cases of theft 37,490 
			   
			 Analysis of 15 cases of reported theft 199899  
			 VCR taken from classroomHMP 98 
			 Missing video recorded and four blank videos HMP 106 
			 Missing telephone/answering machine from Cleland HouseHMP 25 
			 IT equipment missingHMP 0 
			 Theft of laptop containing inmate records during courseHMP 69 
			 Loss of computer discs and equipmentHMP 800 
			 Loss of computer discs from Education DepartmentHMP 992 
			 Break-in at FSS outstation 3,150 
			 Missing IT equipmentHMP 33,773 
			 Theft of various computer items after break-in at SalfordDPAS Not known 
			 Handheld computer stolen from carHMP 400 
			 Theft of laptops from storeroomHMP 20,421 
			 Stolen memory from laptopFSC 0 
			 Theft of hired video recorderHMP 80 
			 Theft of CamcorderHMP 399 
			 Total value of 15 cases of theft 60,313 
			 Analysis of four cases of reported theft 19992000  
			 Computer keyboard stolen from office in QAG 80 
			 Theft of computer equipment from Grenadier House 16,500 
			 Theft of 25 PCs, servers and equipment from Quest House 11,000 
			 Theft of components from sun server from Quest House 74,000 
			 Total value of 4 cases of theft 20,580 
			  
			 Analysis of 25 cases of reported theft 200001  
			 Theft of 7 laptops 31,000 
			 Theft of IT equipment 100 
			 Theft of 2 Home Office computers from ICL premises 6,000 
			 Theft of computer parts 4,000 
			 Laptop and projector stolen on away day 8,000 
			 Video player stolen from locked room 100 
			 Theft of modem linking franking machine to supplier 180 
			 Eternet card discovered to be missing from laptop PC 80 
			 Laptop stolen in house burglary 1,200 
			 HMPSLaptop computer unlocatable 1,000 
			 HMPSLaptop computer taken from locked cabinet 229 
			 HMPSTheft of pressure washer 125 
			 HMPSDictation machine gone missing 377 
			 HMPSTheft of laptop computer (mugging) 2,000 
			 HMPSBicycle stolen from outside prisoner's place of work 89 
			 HMPSA Hewlett-Packard laser jet printer stolen 1,085 
			 HMPSTheft of laptop, printer and mobile phone 73 
			 HMPSTheft of two video cassettes 128 
			 HMPSTheft of industrial hoover 200 
			 HMPSPrison Service employee house burgledcomputer and printer stolen 2,650 
			 HMPSPrison Service issue laptop stolen from boot of car 1,000 
			 HMPSTraining and development unit burgled 5,000 
			 HMPSTheft of 3 canteen bags 39 
			 HMPSTheft of portable generator 340 
			 HMFSIDisappearance of 4 laptops from locked room 9,000 
			 Total value of 25 cases of theft 73,995

Asylum Seekers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum-seekers are receiving (a) accommodation and subsistence support and (b) subsistence support only from the National Asylum Support Service.

Angela Eagle: As at the end of September 2001 the number of asylum seekers (including dependants) supported in National Asylum Support Service (NASS) accommodation was 32,890 1 , 2 . A further 19,900 1 , 2 asylum seekers (including dependants) were receiving voucher only support from NASS.
	1 Figures rounded to the nearest 10.
	2 Cases which have had their support ceased are excluded from these figures.

Asylum Seekers

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to produce guidelines for the protection of women seeking asylum based on the Immigration Appellate Authority's adopted comprehensive gender guidelines.

Angela Eagle: We have not identified a need to issue separate guidance on dealing with women asylum seekers. However, in 2000 we reviewed our instructions to asylum caseworkers and incorporated some of the suggestions and principles contained in the guidelines produced by the Refugee Women's Legal Group.

Asylum Seekers

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people claimed asylum from (a) Zimbabwe, (b) Afghanistan, (c) Macedonia, (d) Yugoslavia and (e) Pakistan in each month since January 2000; and how many have (a) been accepted, (b) had their applications rejected, (c) returned to their country of origin and (d) are yet to have their application resolved;
	(2)  how many people claimed asylum in the United Kingdom each month since January 2000; and how many have (a) been accepted, (b) had their applications rejected, (c) returned to their country of origin and (d) yet to have their application resolved.

Angela Eagle: The number of applications lodged in the United Kingdom between January 2000 and September 2001, both in total and by nationals of the requested countries, is shown in Table 1. Information on the decision outcomes and removals relating to these applications is not readily available.
	The number of asylum and exceptional leave to remain (ELR) grants made to nationals of the requested countries, and in total, and the number of applications refused are shown in Table 2. However, these initial decisions do not all relate to applications made in the same period. A proportion of applications which received an initial refusal result in an appeal being lodged.
	Between January 2000 and September 2001, 15,810 principal asylum applicants (to the nearest five) were removed from the United Kingdom, including persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them and persons leaving under assisted voluntary returns programmes. This figure excludes 570 dependants of asylum seekers who departed during the period April to September 2001. Comparable information on the numbers of Zimbabwean, Afghan, Macedonian, Yugoslavian and Pakistani asylum seekers removed over the same period is not available.
	The number of applicants who have applied for asylum since 1 January 2000 and are currently awaiting an initial decision on their asylum application, and the number awaiting the outcome of appeal determinations, is not available, and would be available only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files.
	Information on asylum applications, initial decisions and removals are published quarterly. The next publication will be available from 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Table 1: Applications(49),(50),(51) received for asylum in the United Kingdom from selected nationalities, excluding dependents, January 2000 to September 2001 -- Number of principal applicants
		
			  Afghanistan Zimbabwe Pakistan FRY(52) Macedonia Other nationalities Total 
		
		
			 January 315 30 335 895 5 4,530 6,110 
			 February 460 50 225 780 5 4,590 6,110 
			 March 365 75 305 545 5 5,390 6,680 
			 April 510 55 315 380 5 5,595 6,855 
			 May 430 85 310 450 10 5,435 6,725 
			 June 395 115 260 590 10 5,175 6,545 
			 July 405 75 265 475 5 5,645 6,870 
			 August 495 70 220 410 * 5,570 6,770 
			 September 535 90 215 395 5 5,555 6,790 
			 October 560 90 230 485 10 5,860 7,230 
			 November 550 130 250 405 5 6,155 7,500 
			 December 535 150 230 250 5 4,960 6,125 
			 January 510 125 215 270 * 5,260 6,380 
			 February 615 125 170 375 * 4,235 5,520 
			 March 680 145 175 330 15 4,470 5,815 
			 April 700 110 220 375 25 3,570 5,000 
			 May 900 130 180 200 30 3,855 5,290 
			 June 910 115 235 160 25 3,855 5,300 
			 July 825 145 300 165 125 4,560 6,125 
			 August 930 150 265 285 140 4,905 6,670 
			 September 745 190 225 175 125 4,600 6,060 
			  
			 Total 12,365 2,235 5,155 8,400 550 103,765 132,470 
		
	
	(49) Figures rounded to the nearest 5 with * = 1 or 2.
	(50) May exclude some cases lodged at local enforcement offices between January and March 2000.
	(51) Provisional figures.
	(52) The Former Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) is comprised of Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro but the majority of FRY applications are thought to be from Kosovars.
	
		Table 2: Initial decisions(53),(54),(55),(56) made on applications from selected nationalities, January 2000 to September 2001 -- Number of principal applicants
		
			  Zimbabwe Afghanistan Macedonia FRY Pakistan Other nationalities Total 
		
		
			 Total initial decisions 2,035 12,245 405 24,285 8,200 159,010 206,180 
			 
			  of which considered under normal procedures 
			 Granted asylum 85 2,315 * 500 265 15,995 19,160 
			 Granted ELR 40 6,310 45 2,335 220 17,605 26,555 
			 Refused 1,865 3,615 355 21,245 6,965 114,760 148,810 
			 
			  of which considered under backlog clearance exercise(57) 
			 Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria 35 10 5 165 685 9,425 10,325 
			 Refused under backlog criteria 5 * * 35 65 1,225 1,335 
		
	
	(53) Figures rounded to the nearest 5 with * = 1 or 2.
	(54) Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
	(55) Decisions figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in this period.
	(56) Provisional figures.
	(57) Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog.

Asylum Seekers

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people claimed asylum in the United Kingdom each month since January 2000 (a) having apparently arrived via another EU country, (b) having apparently arrived via a safe country outside the EU and (c) having apparently arrived direct from their country of origin; and how many have (i) been accepted, (ii) had their applications rejected, (iii) returned to their country of origin and (iv) yet to have their application resolved.

Angela Eagle: I regret that reliable information on the entry routes of asylum seekers from their country of origin to the United Kingdom is not available. In 2000 more than two thirds of applications (68 per cent.) were made in-country (that is by people who had already entered the United Kingdom).
	Information on asylum applications, initial decisions and removals are published quarterly. The next publication will be available from 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Civilian Casework Officers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of civilian casework officers in the police force to help reduce the paperwork of police officers; and what plans there are to increase their numbers.

John Denham: holding answer 12 November 2001
	While recruitment is a matter for individual chief officers, we are committed to encouraging broader use of support staff to handle the paperwork involved in case preparation. The recently published Diary of a Police Officer found that police officers were spending almost as much time in the police station as they were on the street. A large part of this problem results from paperwork and changes are needed to enable officers to focus on delivering policing. The requirement for additional powers to enable support staff to deal with more of this work is being considered as part of the police reform programme.
	In the White Paper Policing a New Century, published on 5 December 2001, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced that he was setting up a task force, chaired by Sir David O'Dowd, to consider how to take forward the recommendations in Diary of a Police Officer, and other relevant reports, in order to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on the police.

Essex Constabulary

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers from the Essex constabulary are seconded to metropolitan London.

John Denham: holding answer 18 January 2002
	I understand from the chief constable of Essex police that there are no officers from Essex police on secondment to the Metropolitan police.

Police Salaries

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the starting salary is for police officers in (a) London and (b) the rest of the UK; after how long a new police officer will receive a pay rise; and if he will make a statement on police pay with special reference to rises they have had since 1997, and pay rises they will receive.

John Denham: holding answer 18 January 2002
	A police officer will earn 17,733 on recruitment, rising to 19,842 upon completion of initial training, which is generally after 32 weeks. Police officers in London, who joined after 1 September 1994 and who are not in receipt of housing allowance, receive an additional London allowance of 4,338 plus London weighting of 1,773.
	Police pay is increased annually by reference to the median percentage of the manpower index of non-manual private sector workers. In 1997 the increase was 3.5 per cent, in 1998, 4 per cent, in 1999, 3.6 per cent, in 2000, 3 per cent. and in 2001, 3.5 per cent.
	Police officers progress up their pay scales by annual increments until they reach the top of their scale.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the public service agreement target for the average staff cost per investigation where an irregularity is corrected was achieved by March 2001.

Angela Eagle: There has been no such public service agreement target for the Home Office.

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for departmental efficiency.

Angela Eagle: The Home Office has a Public Service Agreement (PSA) commitment to deliver 3 per cent. per annum running costs gains in each of the years, 19992002.
	This target has been successfully delivered in both 19992000 and 200001, and work is under way to achieve the current year target.

Community Service

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had concerning the introduction of compulsory community service for young people.

Angela Eagle: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has had no such discussions recently. The Home Office is currently considering how young people, particularly those not in further education or employment, might participate more in community based activities. This may include participation in the development of millennium volunteers, the participative content of the citizenship and democracy programme in schools, the development of such programmes in further education and the opportunities for volunteering and community support offered by the Experience Corps.

Crime (Coventry)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the proportion of violent crime and burglary associated with drug addiction; and what plans he has to tackle this problem (a) in Coventry and (b) in the UK.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 21 January 2002
	While there is strong evidence to show a relationship between drug misuse and acquisitive crime, the current research is insufficiently advanced to reveal a precise link with individual types of crime. Work is on-going in this area through, for example, the new English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring programme of interviewing and testing arrestees in eight locations.
	We have in place a number of initiatives aimed at diverting drug misusers away from crime and into treatment. These include interventions such as arrest referral, drug treatment and testing orders, and the piloting of drug testing at various points in the criminal justice system under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. In the current financial year we also launched the Communities Against Drugs Programme (CAD) with 220 million of central Government funding aimed at tackling drug markets and other drug-related crime at local level.

Security Service

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will give individuals who obtain access to their Security Service files the right to challenge perceived inaccuracies in those files;
	(2)  whether an individual requesting access to his Security Service file will (a) be granted access to all the contents of his or her file other than any items which would involve harm to national security or (b) be denied access to his or her entire file if some, but not all, of its contents would involve harm to national security if disclosed;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the average time which will be taken to furnish an individual who has requested access to their Security Service file with the contents of that file;
	(4)  whether it will be considered to be in the national interest for the Security Service to be obliged to disclose discontinued files on Government Ministers to those individuals while they remain in their posts;
	(5)  whether discontinued Security Service files on the (a) Deputy Prime Minister, (b) Foreign Secretary and (c) right hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) will be released if requested by those individuals;
	(6)  what advice he has been given about the implications of the Human Rights Act 1998 on access by individuals to files on them compiled by the Security Service;
	(7)  if it is his intention to impose charges on individuals who request access to their Security Service files;
	(8)  what overall assessment he has made of the effect on the security of the Security Service of enabling individuals to have access to their Security Service files;
	(9)  what personnel will be allocated by the Security Service for the processing of applications by individuals to see their Security Service files;
	(10)  if he will make a statement on access by individuals to files about their activities compiled by the Security Service, with special reference to his placing a certificate relating to this in the Library; and what criteria will be applied in determining whether the release of a Security Service file on an individual to that individual will harm national security.

David Blunkett: The Security Service complies with the Data Protection Act 1998.
	Section 7 of the Act creates a general entitlement for an individual to ask and be told whether personal data on them is being processed and if it is, be told certain information about that data. However, the Act also provides at section 28 an exemption on grounds of safeguarding national security that applies, among other provisions, to section 7.
	As I stated in the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) on 19 December 2001, Official Report, column 492W, I have signed, at the request of the Security Service, a new certificate describing in general terms the personal data that the Security Service may process that requires exemption under the Act under section 28. A copy of that certificate, with the public reasons for my signing it, was placed in the Library. I have placed a condition on the Security Service to report to me on their use of the certificate.
	Anyone can make a subject access application to the Security Service, including Government Ministers. The Security Service will seek to respond as quickly as reasonably possible.
	Without anticipating the outcome of any such application, one of the Security Service's statutory functions is protecting national security. In perhaps the great majority of cases the service will need to rely on the section 28 exemption to avoid damage to national security. That will include use of the long established neither confirm nor deny approachan approach acknowledged by the national security panel of the Information Tribunal. In response to a subject access application, the service will, consistent with section 28, consider whether the neither confirm nor deny approach needs to be followed and, if not, to what extent the withholding of all or some information is still necessary to safeguard national security.
	The Director General of the Security Service has informed me that he is keeping under review the resources required. In line with the Act, the service charges a 10 subject access application-handling fee.
	The Data Protection Act 1998 is compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998.

Police Officers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have left the (a) Metropolitan police, (b) West Midlands and (c) Greater Manchester police, in each month in each of the last three years for which figures are available; how many and what proportion (i) resigned, (ii) retired, (iii) transferred to another force and (iv) were dismissed; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: holding answer 16 January 2002
	The information requested was not collected centrally on a monthly basis. Information on the categories of wastage requested is collected once a year by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and is set out in the tables.
	
		(a) Metropolitan Police
		
			   199899 19992000 200001 
		
		
			 Resigned(58) 337 365 435 
			 Retired 1,100 838 676 
			 Transferred to another force 234 244 382 
			 Dismissed(59) 60 45 31 
			 Deaths 19 16 12 
		
	
	(58) Retirements includes officers retiring on medical grounds
	(59) Dismissals include officers required to resign
	
		(b) West Midlands Police
		
			   199899 19992000 200001 
		
		
			 Resigned(60) 76 86 101 
			 Retired 203 181 171 
			 Transferred to another force 47 42 59 
			 Dismissed(61) 17 5 9 
			 Deaths 0 9 2 
		
	
	(60) Retirements includes officers retiring on medical grounds
	(61) Dismissals include officers required to resign
	
		(c) Greater Manchester Police
		
			   199899 19992000 200001 
		
		
			 Resigned(62) 44 41 57 
			 Retired 282 235 238 
			 Transferred to another force 13 15 28 
			 Dismissed(63) 13 13 4 
			 Deaths 7 7 3 
		
	
	(62) Retirements includes officers retiring on medical grounds
	(63) Dismissals include officers required to resign.

Prison Sentences

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison sentences of five years and more were handed down in (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000 and (d) 2001.

Beverley Hughes: The information held centrally on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, relating to England and Wales, shows that 3,823 persons were sentenced to immediate custody for five years or over in 1998, 4,009 in 1999 and 4,033 in 2000.
	Statistics for 2001 are not yet available.

Rape

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the attrition rates for reported rape offences in the last 15 years are compiled on the same basis in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in terms of the proportion of cases (a) prosecuted and (b) resulting in a conviction for rape.

Keith Bradley: I understand that neither the Scottish Executive nor the Northern Ireland Office produce attrition rates for rape offences. My officials have contacted officials in the Scottish Executive and in the Northern Ireland Office and our understanding is that were they to produce attrition rates, they would be compiled on much the same basis as those produced for England and Wales.
	The number of offences recorded and detected by the police together with the number of offenders convicted or cautioned (although in Scotland a caution is a sanction following a charge being proved in court) would be directly comparable, to the extent that each country uses its own principal offence rule for statistical purposes where offenders are convicted of more than one type of offence at the same time.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years.

Angela Eagle: The estimated costs of losses to the Home Office, its agencies and non-departmental public (NDPB) bodies through theft and fraud are set out in the table.
	
		Fraud and thefts -- 000
		
			  Home Office Agencies NDPB's Total 
		
		
			 Accounting periods 
			 199798(64)113 
			 199899 3.8 114.4 70.1 188.3 
			 19992000 204.3 165.4 0.0 369.7 
			 200001 79.8 84.4 0.0 164.2 
		
	
	(64) Analysis between Home Office, executive agencies and non- departmental bodies cannot be provided.
	Note:
	Cumulative total for 19972001 is 835.2 million.

Refurbishment

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the cost of buildings refurbishment carried out by his Department in each of the last four years.

Angela Eagle: The Department does not maintain central records of the cost of every building refurbishment project carried out by the Department including its Executive Agencies and to provide the information requested would be at disproportionate cost. However, in central London and Croydon, the approximate position over the last three years is as follows:
	
		
			million 
		
		
			 19992000 6.7 
			 20002001 35.2 
			 200101 (65)11.5 
		
	
	(65) Up to end of November 2001.
	I would also refer to the response given to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) on 23 October 2001, Official Report, column 218W.

Immigration

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications from (a) long stay and (b) indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom there were from (i) wives of UK men and (ii) husbands of UK women as at 31 December 2001.

Angela Eagle: I regret that information on individual types of cases undecided cannot be determined.

Immigration

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time was taken to process the application of a wife of a UK citizen who has been married for over 12 months and living in the UK, over the most recent 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: We do not routinely publish average processing times for individual types of application. We aim to decide all straightforward applications within three weeks, but at present it is taking up to eight weeks due to the exceptionally high number of applications received in 2001, especially in recent months, and process changes which are being introduced to improve our longer term performance. We are working to reduce this to three weeks as soon as possible.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what proportion of breached antisocial behaviour orders resulted in a custodial sentence in Staffordshire in 2001;
	(2)  how many antisocial behaviour orders were breached in Staffordshire in 2001.

John Denham: Information on court proceedings for 2001 will not be available until the autumn.

Metropolitan Police

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Metropolitan police recruits were undertaking the 18 weeks training and 10 weeks street duty course during each of the previous 24 months.

John Denham: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has provided the following figures for Metropolitan police service recruits undertaking the 18-week training course at Hendon during each of the previous 24 months. The figures include a small number of experienced officers rejoining the service who undertake a two-week refresher course.
	
		
			 Year/month Number in training school 
		
		
			 19992000  
			 December 316 
			 January 409 
			 February 357 
			 March 325 
			 April 412 
			 May 324 
			 June 368 
			 July 384 
			 August 277 
			 September 275 
			 October 394 
			 November 441 
			 December 494 
			   
			 2001  
			 January 576 
			 February 458 
			 March 652 
			 April 689 
			 May 783 
			 June 830 
			 July 833 
			 August 913 
			 September 685 
			 October 709 
			 November 940 
			 December 993 
		
	
	Street duty courses are run locally on each of the 32 boroughs. The numbers undertaking this course are not recorded centrally and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Football

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he takes to monitor football players and club officials travelling overseas for matches; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: This is a matter for the football authorities and their specialist security advisers. The Government are kept informed and liaise with them regularly.

Road Accidents (Breath Tests)

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what guidance he issues to police officers on breathalysing drivers immediately following a road accident in which there is fatality or serious injury; and if it is normal practice to breathalyse drivers in these circumstances;
	(2)  if he will ensure that it becomes normal practice for police officers to breathalyse drivers immediately following a road accident in which there was a fatality or serious injury.

John Denham: It is the policy of the Association of Chief Police Officers that all drivers of vehicles involved in a collision where police attend should be breath-tested. This has been the position since 1996. I am satisfied that the policy is applied appropriately by all police forces.

Police Numbers (Rural Areas)

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the number of police officers serving in rural areas.

John Denham: The allocation of resources to rural areas is a matter for individual chief constables. This Government responded positively to the outcome of independent research into the policing of sparsely populated areas by the creation of the Rural Policing Fund to direct extra resources to rural forces.
	In 200001 15 million was allocated to 31 forces with more sparsely populated areas. In 200102 this was increased to a full-year allocation of 30 million. We are making available a further 30 million in 200203 to the same forces. Essex police benefit from the Rural Policing Fund and were allocated 503,710 in 200102. They will receive the same in 200203. It is for chief constables to determine how this money should be used to improve the policing of rural areas.
	In addition the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) is enabling all forces to take on a total of 9,000 extra recruits, over and above their previous recruitment plans for the three years to March 2003. Essex police has been allocated 197 CFF recruits over the three years.

Police Houses

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what right to buy would be enjoyed by a serving Metropolitan police officer with a secure tenancy of a police house since July 2000, with non-secure tenancies from 1995 to 2000 and with a wife who was previously a long-term local authority secure tenant.

John Denham: Those Metropolitan police service tenants who became secure tenants as a result of the changes to the Housing Act 1985 made in the Greater London Authority Act 1999, would not normally be eligible for a right to buy until July 2002.
	From the details provided, it is not possible to establish precisely the impact of a spouse who was previously a long-term local authority secure tenant.

Police Numbers (Thames Valley)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were serving in the Thames Valley police force on 1 January (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000, (e) 2001 and (f) 2002.

John Denham: Figures are not collected for police strength at 1 January. Figures for police strength at 31 December in the years 1999 to 2001 have been provided by the Chief Constable of Thames Valley police. The force is unable to provide information for the position on 31 December in the years 1996 to 1998. For these years the table shows strength figures at 30 September provided in statistical returns to the Home Office.
	
		
			 Year and month Number of officers 
		
		
			 30 September 1996 3,682 
			 30 September 1997 3,705 
			 30 September 1998 3,790 
			 31 December 1999 3,732 
			 31 December 2000 3,750 
			 31 December 2001 3,763

Departmental Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will commission and publish an independent report on the reasons for the level of sickness absence in his Department.

Angela Eagle: The Cabinet Office already commissions and publishes an independent annual report Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service. This report includes details of the causes of absenteeism. The report for the year 2000 will be published shortly.
	The Home Office and its agencies have introduced new guidelines, policies and procedures with a view to meeting its target to reducing sickness absence, published in its Service Delivery Agreements for April 2001 to March 2004.

Newspaper Advertising

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the expenditure of his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies on newspaper advertising by title in each year since 1997.

David Blunkett: Each campaign may use national and regional media. The target audience and information to be conveyed influences the choice of media used. For national campaigns a mix of broadsheets and tabloids is frequently used. For regional advertising, space has been taken in many prominent regional newspapers as well as local papers.
	A breakdown of expenditure on newspaper advertising by title could be supplied only at disproportionate costs. Figures for Home Office expenditure on advertising were given in response to a question from the hon. Member for Perth (Annabelle Ewing) on 19 December 2001, Official Report, column 478W.

Police Paperwork

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reduce paperwork for police officers.

John Denham: On 1 November 2001, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary published PA Consulting's study Diary of a Police Officer which had considered what more could be done to free police officers from the unnecessary paperwork and other obstacles which prevent them from spending more time in public.
	In the White Paper Policing a new century (CM 5326), published on 5 December 2001, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced that he was setting up a taskforce, chaired by Sir David O'Dowd, to consider how to take forward the recommendations in this, and other, relevant reports, in order to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on the police.

Drug Offences (Uxbridge)

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug-related offences were committed in the Uxbridge constituency in each of the last five years.

Bob Ainsworth: Recorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences, such as possession, but do not record whether other offences are related to offenders' drug habits. Furthermore, the information that is collected on the number of drug offences is only available for the Metropolitan police force area as a whole and would therefore not be a useful guide to the number of drug offences in Uxbridge.
	The NEW-ADAM research programme of interviewing and drug testing those arrested by the police sheds some light on the links between drugs and crime, although again the conclusions do not relate specifically to Uxbridge. Research so far, based on eight locations in 19992000, indicates that more than three-fifths (by value) of acquisitive crime is committed by users of both heroin and cocaine/crack.

Drug Trafficking

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent discussions his Department has had with other EU Governments about the list of aggravating circumstances relating to drug trafficking;
	(2)  what recent discussions his Department has had with EU Governments regarding the minimum and maximum sentence tariffs for drug trafficking offences.

Bob Ainsworth: On 23 May 2001 the European Commission published a draft European Council Framework Decision laying down minimum provisions on the constituent elements of criminal acts and penalties in the field of illicit drug trafficking. It sets out proposals for common minimum, maximum sentence tariffs as well as common aggravating circumstances for drug trafficking offences. The proposal is currently being discussed at official level in the European Union Council working groups responsible for drugs and criminal law. Home Office officials are represented on these working groups.

Drug Trafficking

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions his Department has had with Turkey regarding drug control measures.

Bob Ainsworth: The Government have developed close co-operation with Turkey at an operational level because it is a key country on the supply route of heroin to the United Kingdom. In addition between 1994 and 1999 we provided over 1 million for anti-drugs assistance, mainly in the form of training, and we expect to provide up to 300,000 for training and equipment in 200102.

Police Numbers (Portsmouth)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there are in Portsmouth, South; how many are from ethnic minorities; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The deployment of officers within the Hampshire Constabulary is an operational a matter for the chief constable.
	I am told by the chief constable that the Portsmouth division had 399 police officers on 31 December 2001, of whom eight (2 per cent.) were from minority ethnic communities.
	It is not possible to provide figures for the Portsmouth, South constituency as it is an integral part of the Portsmouth division and officers will be deployed around the division in response to need.

Graffiti

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) reported incidents of, (b) arrests for and (c) charges brought for graffiti there were in the Metropolitan police area in (i) 199596 and (ii) 200001.

John Denham: It is not possible to distinguish offences of graffiti from other types of criminal damage in the Home Office figures for recorded crime, arrests or court proceedings as the details of individual offences are not collected centrally.

Football Matches

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of policing football matches (a) in the Metropolitan police area and (b) other police areas has been in each of the last five years; and what proportion of these costs was paid for by the football industry.

John Denham: The information is not centrally held and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners (Drug Deaths)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison inmates died while in custody as a result of illegal drug misuse during 2001.

Beverley Hughes: No prisoners died as a result of illegal drug misuse in prisons in England and Wales during 2001.

Heavy Goods Vehicles

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many HGV drivers were prosecuted in each of the last five years for driving a goods vehicle with maximum loaded weight of over 7.5 tonnes in the offside lane of a motorway with three or more lanes in England and Wales.

John Denham: The offence of driving a heavy goods vehicle having a maximum laden weight exceeding 7.5 tonnes within the offside lane of a motorway with three or more lanes is contrary to Regulation 12 of the Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982.
	The Home Office Court Proceedings Database does not identify this specific offence separately from others within the offence category 'motorway offences (other than speeding)', of which there were in total 3,213 offences proceeded against in 2000.
	The 'motorway offences (other than speeding)' category includes offences committed under the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984, s17(4) and the Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982, Regulations 512 and 14.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Civil Service Pensions

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he plans to change the civil service pension scheme to allow widows and widowers to retain their pension after remarrying; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: The civil service will be introducing new pension arrangements with effect from 1 October 2002. New entrants will be given a choice between a new final salary pension scheme and a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. We are giving active members of the current pension scheme an option to move into the new final salary scheme on 1 October if they wish. The new scheme, which has a higher employee contribution rate than the current scheme, will allow widows and widowers to retain their pension if they remarry. We have no plans to change the arrangements in the current scheme whereby widows and widowers will normally lose their pension entitlement should they remarry.

Civil Service Secondments

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the salary and other costs of a civil servant from one UK Government Department who is on loan to another UK Government Department are met from the budget of the Department of origin of the civil servant or the Department to which the civil servant is transferred on loan.

Christopher Leslie: There are no central rules on this. It is a matter to be settled between the two Departments involved.

Ministerial Transport

Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last used the railway service in connection with his official duties; what station he left from and what was the destination; and whether it is his intention to make greater use of the railways in future.

John Prescott: I last returned from official business in Hull by train on Monday 21 January.

BBC Monitoring

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reason the Winter Supplementary Estimates 200102 included provision to transfer sums from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence to the Cabinet Office in respect of BBC monitoring.

Christopher Leslie: Since 1997, funding to support BBC Monitoring's capability to monitor, translate, and report items of interest from foreign broadcasts and media has been provided by four stakeholders: the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, BBC World Service Broadcasting, and the Cabinet Office. Following a review, the four stakeholders agreed in May 2001 to redistribute funding between them in a way which reflected more fully the relative scale of their requirements for BBC Monitoring's services. The sums transferred in the winter supplementary estimate give effect to that change.

Lobbying

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether Government agencies are permitted to incur expenditure on lobbyists where the Government itself is the intended recipient of such lobbying.

Christopher Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him of 17 December 2001, Official Report, column 97W. Decisions on expenditure will be for individual Government agencies to take in accordance with the guidance on Government accounting.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many answers to parliamentary questions have not been answered by the Cabinet Office under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994.

Christopher Leslie: As far as I am aware, only one answer to a parliamentary question has been refused, in this House, under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government information.